Dypsis decaryi
Dypsis decaryi (Jum.) Beentje & J.Dransf.
Family : Arecaceae
Common Name : ത്രയാംഗിൾ പാം (Mal)
: Triangle Palm
IUCN Status : Vulnerable (VU) ↓
This palm is endemic to the south-eastern most part of Madagascar, and it thrives in poor, dry soils. In the United States, triangle palm is found in southern Florida, southern Texas, and the Hawaiian Islands. It can reach heights of 25 to 35 feet with a crown spread of 15 feet, and it grows best in full sun but can tolerate partial shade. The pinnately compound leaves or fronds can grow to 10 feet long, with the upper half of the leaf hanging or drooping. The bottom portion of the frond, known as the leaf petiole, is only 1 foot long and forms a cupped, triangular shape. Fronds grow from the top portion of the trunk in three distinct rows, creating the shape of a triangle as petioles stack on top of one another. Leaflets are bluish-green, about 2 feet long, have entire or smooth margins, and form a "V" shape as they sit opposite to one another on the rachis. The trunk is dark gray, stocky, and, though generally smooth, it has obvious leaf scars. Flowers are small and light yellow. The inflorescence emerges near the base of the lower leaves in the springtime and can grow to be up to 5 feet long. interfoliar, 125-178 x 120 cm, widely spreading, branched; peduncle 50-58 cm long, with scattered scales, anthers dorsifixed, versatile; pistillode cylindrical. Female flowers unknown, but from fruiting material sepals broadly ovate with a small apiculum; petals with broad membranous wings and a small fleshy triangular apex; staminodes 1 mm high. Fruits ovoid, later subglobose with rounded apex; mesocarp fleshy-fibrous, endocarp fibrous with anastomosing fibres. Each fruit is 1 inch long, egg shaped, and green when immature and yellowish-white when ripe. Seed subglobose to ellipsoid.
Use: Dypsis decaryi is widely grown as an ornamental plant around the world, including in Madagascar itself.
Distribution: Native of Madagascar
Flowering and Fruiting : Throughout