Bottle palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis)
Description
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, the bottle palm or palmiste gargoulette, is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family. It is native to Round Island, Mauritius. Bottle palm has a large swollen (sometimes bizarrely so) trunk. It is a myth that the trunk is a means by which the palm stores water. Bottle palms have only four to six leaves open at any time. The leaves of young palms have a red or orange tint, but a deep green is assumed at maturity. The flowers of the palm arise from under the crownshaft. This species is often confused with its relative, the Spindle Palm, which also has a swollen trunk. However the Spindle palm's trunk swells in the middle (resembling the shape of a spindle), whereas the trunk of the Bottle palm swells from near the base and tapers further up. Its inflorescence branches in 4 orders, and its 2.5 cm fruits can be orange or black. The trunk of both species becomes more and more slender as the palm ages. Within Mauritius, the only other extant Hyophorbe species is the common Hyophorbe vaughanii. The Bottle palm can be distinguished from this species however, by its swollen trunk when young; by its much smaller (2.5 cm) orange or black fruits; and by its inflorescence, which branches in four orders rather than three.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Arecales
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Family: Arecaceae
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Genus: Hyophorbe
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