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Dypsis decaryi


Dypsis decaryi habit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php

Dypsis decaryi habit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php
Dypsis decaryi leaf bases. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php

Dypsis decaryi leaf bases. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php
Dypsis decaryi leaf bases closer view showing tomentum.

Dypsis decaryi leaf bases closer view showing tomentum.
Dypsis decaryi leaf. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php

Dypsis decaryi leaf. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php
Dypsis decaryi leaflets. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php

Dypsis decaryi leaflets. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php
Dypsis decaryi leaf bases and inforescence

Dypsis decaryi leaf bases and inforescence
Dypsis decaryi fruit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php

Dypsis decaryi fruit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php

Common name

triangle palm, madagascar three-sided palm

Description

Stems: Solitary, stout, dark brown stems to 7 m tall and up to 40 cm in diameter, with narrow, grayish rings of leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
scars. Leaves: Pinnate, reduplicatereduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create an upside-down V-shape, with the margins lower than the midrib (so that rain might "run off the roof"), the folding is reduplicate.
, to 3 m long, radiating in three vertical rows (3-ranked), with a rachisrachis:
an extension of the petiole through the blade of a pinnate leaf to which leaflets are attached
that curves downward near the tip. The linearlinear:
term to describe leaves and leaflets that are narrow with nearly parallel margins; like a line
leaflets are regularly arranged and are held in a narrow V-shape. The crown shaftcrown shaft:
a cylinder of clasping leaf sheaths toward the apex of the stem, found in some pinnate-leaved palms (e.g., <em>Wodyetia bifurcata</em>)
 is not closed but consists of bulging leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
bases that overlap in a triangular shape. The young leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
bases are covered with felt-like, reddish-brown tomentumtomentum:
a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves
. Leaflets are blue-green or grayish-green with brown or tan twisted ramentaramenta:
irregularly shaped, thin scales, sometimes found along the abaxial midrib of a leaflet
on the underside near the rachisrachis:
an extension of the petiole through the blade of a pinnate leaf to which leaflets are attached
, and new leaves have marginal reinsreins:
narrow strips along the margins of some pinnate leaves that peel away as the leaflets unfold; in some species, the reins are persistent and hang down long after the leaf has “opened.”
. Flowers and fruits: Inflorescenceinflorescence:
the reproductive structure of a flowering plant, including palms, consisting of flowers and associated bracts
 to 1.5 m long, branched to three orders. Male and female flowers are creamy yellow and are borne on the same inflorescenceinflorescence:
the reproductive structure of a flowering plant, including palms, consisting of flowers and associated bracts
. The yellow-green fruits are 2.5 cm long and have remnants of the stigma at the base.

Diagnostic features

Field: The 3-ranked leaves and regularly arranged leaflets of the triangle palm makes it readily identifiable in the landscape.

Lab: Brownish ramentaramenta:
irregularly shaped, thin scales, sometimes found along the abaxial midrib of a leaflet
near the leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
rachis on the underside of the blue-green or gray-green leaflets

May be confused with

Dypsis madagascariensis also has 3-ranked leaves, but the leaflets are inserted in multiple planes, with a plumoseplumose:
softly feathered
appearance.

Distribution

Native to Madagascar

Additional comments

Commonly cultivated in Hawaii

Scientific name

Dypsis decaryi (Jum.) Beentje & J. Dransf.

Family

Arecaceae/Palmae

Synonyms

Neodypsis decaryi Jumelle



    USDA Lucid