Bark
Trunk stout, brownish-grey to dark grey, ringed with old leaf scars; the leaf bases above form a distinct triangular “crownshaft”.
Chrysalidocarpus decaryi
Syn. Dypsis decaryi
IUCN Red List
Vulnerable
(VU)
Local name
- Triangle Palm, Three-sided Palm (English)
CITES status: Appendix II
Tree type
Evergreen
Deciduous
Family: Arecaceae
8m
Indicated uses
Medicinal
Edible
Ornamental
Avenue
Other
Flowering & fruiting
Flowering
Fruiting
Key characters
Leaves
Leaves are pinnately compound, up to 2.5–3 m long, bluish- to silvery-green, held stiffly upright and arching at the tips, arranged in three vertical ranks; the lowest leaflets form long hanging threads.
Flower
Inflorescences branched, up to about 1.2–1.5 m long, arising among the lower leaves; flowers small, yellow-green.
Fruit / Seeds
Fruits ovoid to round, about 2–2.5 cm across, green when young and ripening to yellowish or reddish; one seed per fruit.
Did you know?
Its leaves grow in three exact rows at 120°, giving the crown its triangular shape. The epithet honours Raymond Decary, a French scientist who worked in Madagascar. Only about 1,000 plants survive in the wild, and seed collection for the nursery trade is a major threat, which is why it is listed under CITES.
Distribution
SE. Madagascar, Assam