Hyphaene coriacea
{{Short description|Species of palm}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Lala palm
|image = Hyphaene coriacea kz1.JPG
|image_caption = In Maspalomas Botanical Garden, Gran Canaria
|genus = Hyphaene
|species = coriacea
|authority = Gaertn., 1788
|synonyms =
- Hyphaene natalensis Kuntze
|synonyms_ref =
}}
Hyphaene coriacea, the lala palm or ilala palm{{cite web | url=https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Hyphaene_coriacea | title=Hyphaene coriacea - Palmpedia - Palm Grower's Guide }} is a species of palm tree native to the eastern Afrotropics.{{cite web |last1=Glen |first1=H.F. |last2=Reynolds |first2=Yvonne |title=Hyphaene coriacea Gaertn. |url=http://www.plantzafrica.com/planthij/hyphaencor.htm |website=PlantZAfrica.com |publisher=SANBI |accessdate=16 March 2015}} It occurs in eastern Africa from Somalia to Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, and is also found in the coastal flats of Madagascar and on Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel Islands.
Description
A clustering palm, usually found in groups of 2-6 but sometimes appearing solitary. The trunk grows 1-6 m tall and 10-20 cm in diameter, typically unbranched but occasionally branched, covered in old leaf bases forming a criss-cross pattern.
The crown has 9-20 leaves, spreading with recurved rachis, reaching up to 1.8 m. The open leaf sheath is up to 40 cm long, waxy brown with fibrous margins. The petiole measures 60-97 cm, widening at the base and narrowing distally, with black triangular spines up to 1 cm long. The leaf blade is about 70 cm long and 112 cm wide, divided into 39-55 segments with filaments at the sinuses. The outer segments are 31-48 cm long, central ones 40-58 cm, with faint minor veins covered in scattered reddish scales.
Male inflorescences are interfoliar, branched to two orders, with solitary or grouped rachillae 9-36 cm long. Flowers have greenish corolla lobes, yellow anthers, and a small pistillode. Female inflorescences are interfoliar, 60-120 cm long, branched to one order with 2-5 pendulous rachillae. Female flowers have slightly obovate petals, thin staminodes, and a globose ovary.
The fruit is irregularly top-shaped, 5-6 cm high and 4-6 cm in diameter, on a hairy pedicel up to 12 mm long. The mesocarp is fibrous, and the endocarp is hard and woody. The seed is about 2.7 cm wide with a homogeneous endosperm and a central hollow.{{Cite book |last=Dransfield |first=J. |title=The Palms of Madagscar |publisher=J. Dransfeild, H. Beentje |year=1995 |isbn=9780947643829 |location=Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation, Arcadia, CA, U.S.A. |publication-date=1995}}
Uses
The spongy pulp of the hard, brown fruit is edible and the fruit is eaten and sold in Madagascar{{cite web |title=Lala Palm Tree - Hyphaene coriacea - Zimbabwe, Angola... |url=http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_lala_palm.html |website=www.krugerpark.co.za |access-date=9 February 2021}} and in eastern Africa; its Swahili name is Mkoma. The flavour has been compared to raisins and raisin bran.
See also
References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q3644219}}
Category:Flora of KwaZulu-Natal
Category:Flora of the Northern Provinces