Raphia regalis

Botanical Description

Raphia regalis is an evergreen palm. The plant forms a short stem up to 1 metre long, but this is mainly buried underground so that the plant appears stemless. The stem is topped by a rosette of a few, very long, more or less erect leaves that can exceed 20 metres in length and are said to be the largest leaves of any plant[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ , 970 Title The Raphia Palms of West Africa Publication Kew Bulletin Vol. 19 No. 2 Author Russell T.A. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London Year 1965 ISBN Description Describing the six known species of Raphia found in west Africa and their uses. ]. The plant is commonly harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of materials. This highly distinctive palm, with no aerial trunk and with leaves rating amongst the largest in the plant kingdom, is likely under-recorded due to difficulties in collecting specimens of it, and in the fact that it has received limited taxonomic attention. Continuing decline is inferred because of extensive forest clearance for timber and for agricultural expansion in Nigeria and Bakossi. Selective felling for use in building and tapping of palm wine, mainly in Nigeria, poses a serious threat. The species may well be more threatened than the current lisiting indicates. The plant is classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].