Tavosy (Dypsis dracaenoides)

Description

Clustering palm with 2 - 5 stems per clump, occasionally solitary, erect or sometimes leaning. Stems 2.5 - 4 m high, 0.8 - 1.5 cm diam.; internodes 0.8 - 4 cm long, covered with red scales in the distal part, proximal part with corky lenticels. Leaves 8 - 12 in the crown, forming a shuttlecock; sheath pale green, covered with red brown scales, 18.5 - 25 cm long, 1.5 - 2.2 cm wide, with auricles 5 - 6 × 0.6 - 1 cm; petiole absent or up to 4 cm long, occasionally densely scaly, adaxially flattened, abaxially rounded; rachis 16 - 38 cm long, tapering from about 1 cm in diam. at the base, adaxially flattened near the base, keeled towards the apex, abaxially angled, minutely scaly, blade coriaceous; lamina entire and deeply bifid or dissected; entire leaves 70 - 104 cm long, 10 - 16 cm wide, abaxially with scattered scales, ramenta very sparse, main veins 6 - 8 in each side of the rachis, apex dentate, lobe 55 - 80 cm, pinnate leaves with 8 - 9 very narrow leaflets on each side of the rachis, somewhat irregularly arranged, spaced at about 0.6 - 5.5 cm, proximal leaflets 41 - 60 × 0.5 - 0.7 cm, median leaflets 59 - 76 × 0.5 - 0.7 cm, distal multiplefold leaflets 59 - 70 × 1.3 - 2 cm, main veins 2 - 3, apices dentate, abaxial surface of leaflets with scatteredscales. Inflorescences interfoliar, pendulous to erect, branched to 2 orders; peduncle 50 - 68 cm long, 4 - 7 mm in diam., brown puberulous; prophyll 18 - 20.5 cm long, 6.5 - 8 mm wide, inserted at 6 - 6.3 cm from the base of peduncle, 2-keeled, covered in scattered reddish- brown tomentum, open for 2 - 3.3 cm in the distalpart; peduncular bract 31 - 56 cm long, 4 - 7 mm wide,inserted at 7 - 10 cm from the base of peduncle, sparsely scaly with reddish-brown tomentum, apical beak about 3 mm, split to 3.3 - 6.5 cm in the distal part; rachis 20 - 40 cm long, 0.4 - 0.6 cm wide, yellowish, covered with scattered red scales, with 4 - 9 first branched rachillae and 8 - 11 unbranched rachillae, proximal rachillae to 6 cm long with up to 4 rachillae; rachilla 7 - 16 cm long, about 1 mm in diam., minutely puberulous, triads distant. Staminate flowers with sepals 0.8 - 1.3 × 1 - 1.3 mm, imbricate, minutely scaly, triangular, keeled, slightly asymmetric; petals 2 - 2.1 × 1.6 - 1.8 mm, elliptic, valvate, striate, coriaceous; stamens 6, equal, filaments 0.5 - 0.7 mm long, about 0.1 mm wide, anthers versatile, medifixed, elongate, 1.2 - 1.4 × 0.4 - 0.5 mm; pistillode obovoid, about 0.4 mm high. Pistillate flowers with sepals 1.2 - 1.4 × 1.1 - 1.3 mm, minutely scaly, triangular, asymmetric; petals 2.2 - 2.4 × 1.1 - 1.4 mm, elliptic, striate, imbricate, coriaceous; staminodes minute; gynoecium about 1.7 × 1 mm. Fruit not seen. (M. Rakotoarinivo and J. Dransfield. 2010)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.