Scientific Name : Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn.
Common Name : Traveller's Palm, Traveller’s Tree
Chinese Name : 旅人蕉, 扇芭蕉
Family : STRELITZIACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Madagascar. Hence it was given the species epithet “madagascariensis (from Madagascar)”. |
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| Applications | Traveller’s Palm is a common greening plant in Hong Kong that is mostly planted in leisure parks. The species is also widely cultivated in tropical regions. The Traveller’s Palm delivers a tropical atmosphere with its special appearance. Its leaves look like a fan made by banana leaves, or the flags carried by the guards of ancient emperors during a royal procession. The overall silhouette of the plant looks even more like a giant handheld fan, allowing it to stand out from the crowd. |
| Meanings of names | Leaf sheaths and spathes of the Traveller’s Palm can store rainwater, which could act as an emergency water supply for those travellers without drinking water. Traveller’s Palm is not banana or palm. However, its leaves look like the leaves of banana or palms, with an outer appearance that combines the two. Therefore, the species was given the Chinese Name “Traveller’s Banana (旅人蕉)” and English Name “Traveller’s Palm”. |
| Growing habit | Tree-like perennials. |
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| Height | To 6 m. To 30 m tall in native habitats. |
| Stems | Main stem palm-like, stout and erect, cylindrical. Bark brown, rough with conspicuous ring scars on surface. |
| Leaves | Oblong, large. Length of leaf blade to 2 m, width 0.5 m or above, concolourous on both surfaces. Shaped like leaves of banana. Petiole long, with leaf sheath at base, tubular. Alternate at the apex of trunk, orderly arranged in two rows, making the appearance of the whole plant shaped like a gigantic handheld fan. |
| Flowers | Inflorescence axillary, shorter than petiole. 6 to 10 boat-shaped spathes superposed distichously, with 5 to 12 flowers enveloped in each spathe. Sepals 3, petals 3, whitish, lanceolate, subequal. Only the middle petal slightly narrower and shorter. |
| Fruits | Capsule, brown, 3-lobed when mature. |
| Seeds | Kidney-shaped, covered by lacerate aril, cobalt in colour, spectacularly eye-catching. |
| Flowering period | All year around. |
| Fruiting period | All year around. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website : https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=9824
Scientific names from other databases
― Plants of the World Online : Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn.