Palms   Dypsis ambositrae

Synonymy: None Common Names: None Distribution: Central Madagascar, near Ambositra. Habitat: Open forest, on steep slopes. Description: A very attractive, medium sized, clustering or single trunked palm to about 7m tall. It has long thin, dark green leaflets. Although Palms of Madagascar records this as usually clustering, all the plants I have seen in cultivation have been solitary (I'm not quite sure what this means :). General: A critically endangered plant in its native habitat, however it is becoming very widely established in cultivation.

Figure 1. A clump of mature plants in SE Queensland.

Culture:
Prefers a sunny, well-drained position. Central Madagascar can be quite a hostile environment, getting down to freezing in winter, and being very hot and dry in summer, so presumably this would quite a hardy plant in cultivation.

Figure 2. Close up of the inflorescence.

Reference:	The Palms of Madagascar by Dr. John Dransfield, and Dr. Henk J. Beentje.
Contributed by:	Dr. Hugh Kunze

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