Raphia laurentii
De Wild.
Laurent raphia palm
ArecaceaeFruit
gbif · cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
gbif · cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
gbif · cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Trunk - starch
The fruit is eaten, and starch is extracted from the trunk.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows along the edges of rivers. It grows in lowland swamp forests.
Africa, Asia, Central Africa*, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo R, Indonesia, SE Asia,
Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A small palm. It grows 5-15 m tall. It has long black spines. The leaves have leaflets along the stalk. The flowers occur singly. The fruit is oval with large brown scales.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds and by division of the clump.
Names & Synonyms
Palem rafia lauren
References (2)
- Nkeoua, G. & Boundzanga, G. C., 1999, Donnees sur les produits forestieres non ligneux en Republique du Congo. FAO. p 35
- Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 813
