Hyophorbe lagenicaulis

Bottle palm ( Hyophorbe lagenicaulis ) at the Jardín de aclimatación de la Orotava, Tenerife

The bottle palm ( Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, synonym: Mascarena lagenicaulis ), also called barrel palm, is a species of the genus Hyophorbe in the palm family.

Description

The bottle palm is a medium sized tree with a gray stem, with increasing age at the base of conical thickened ( name). The sparse crown is usually from four to eight leathery, v -shaped feathered, much recurved leaves. This palm is related to the spindle palm ( Hyophorbe verschaffeltii ) and grows very slowly. They can withstand temperatures between 4 ° C and 28 ° C, is extremely sensitive to frost and needs full sun; the soil must be moist. Young plants have red-rimmed leaves and petioles.

With eight to ten years, the plant flowers for the first time; the numerous flowers are yellowish-white and grow on stalks from the crown. Change The small, round fruits with increasing age, the color from green to black; they are used as pig feed use (Greek hys = pig, phorbe = feed; lagenos = Bottle, kaulos = strain). The seeds need four to six months to germinate.

Dissemination

The bottle palm occurs as an endemic species on Round Iceland, a lying 30 km off the northern tip of Mauritius. There almost extinct through goat rearing and rabbits, it is now cultivated throughout the tropics and gladly sold as a garden or houseplant because of its unusual shape.