Hyphaene thebaica (Cultivated- Bot. Garden, Kolkata)

Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart., Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 226 1838. (Syn: Chamaeriphes crinita (Gaertn.) Kuntze; Chamaeriphes thebaica (L.) Kuntze; Corypha thebaica L.; Cucifera thebaica (L.) Delile; Douma thebaica (L.) Poir.; Hyphaene baikieana Furtado; Hyphaene crinita Gaertn.; Hyphaene dahomeensis Becc.; Hyphaene dankaliensis Becc.; Hyphaene nodularia Becc.; Hyphaene occidentalis Becc.; Hyphaene santoana Furtado; Hyphaene sinaitica Furtado; Hyphaene togoensis Dammer ex Becc.; Hyphaene tuleyana Furtado; Palma thebaica (L.) Jacq.);

Hyphaene thebaica, with common names doum palm (Ar: دوم) and gingerbread tree (also doom palm), is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is a native of the northern half of Africa where it is widely distributed and tends to grow in places where groundwater is present. It has been shown that dietary supplementation with doum palm extract has hypotensive and hypolipidemic effects.

The doum palm is a deciduous palm and grows up to 17 m (56 ft) high. The trunk, which can have a girth of up to 90 cm (35 in), branches dichotomously and has tufts of large leaves at the ends of the branches. The bark is fairly smooth, dark grey and bears the scars of fallen leaves. The petioles (leaf stalks) are about a metre long, sheathing the branch at the base and armed with stout upward-curving claws. The leaves are fan shaped and measure about 120 by 180 cm (47 by 71 in). Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. The inflorescences are similar in general appearance, up to about 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) long, branching irregularly and with two or three spikes arising from each branchlet. Female trees produce large woody fruits, each containing a single seed, that remain on the tree for a long period.^[1]

The doum palm flourishes in hot dry regions where little else grows and the tree is appreciated for the shade it provides. All parts of the tree are useful, but probably the most important product is the leaves. The fibre and leaflets are used by people along the Niger and Nile Rivers to weave baskets, such as in the material culture of the Manasir. Other things made from the leaves are mats, coarse textiles, brooms, ropes, string and thatch.^[1] The timber is used for posts and poles, furniture manufacture and beehives, and the tree provides wood for fuel. The leaf stalks are used for fencing and the fibre is used for textiles. Other products include fishing rafts, brooms, hammocks, carpets, buttons and beads.^[2]

(From Wikipedia on 7.3.14)
.

/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Hyphaene%20thebaica-0.jpg

Interesting plants of AJCB Indian Botanic Garden: BRANCHED PLAM (Hyphaene thebaica), Shibpur, Howrah: SCFEB24: 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (1).

Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. (Branched palm, family – Arecaceae)

They are unusual among palms in having regular naturally branched trunks; most other palms are single-stemmed from the ground. Trunk is Y-shaped, with a girth of 90 cm., and the tree is easily recognizable by the dichotomy of its stem.
Hyphaene is derived from the Greek word ‘hyphaino’ (web), referring to the fibres from the leaves, which are used for weaving

/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DSCN0892-8.jpg

/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DSCN0894.jpg

/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DSCN0895.jpg

Arecaceae Fortnight p.s. : Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (3).

On the 25th Dec., 2010, I visited Shibpur Bot. for the first time,…. well, except my toddling days! No, I wasn’t interested at all and in fact I was nearby for some other purpose! It was next December when I became a member of this group and later met DCSR.