Palms   Dypsis madagascariensis

Synonymy: Chrysalidocarpus madagascariensis Chrysalidocarpus lucubensis Chrysalidocarpus oleraceus Dypsis lucubensis Distribution & Habitat: Dry forest in central west and north west of Madagascar. Description: A very handsome, medium sized, clumping (usually just 2-4 trunks) or solitary palm (which was known as D. lucubensis ), to about 15m, with a thick, closely ringed trunk. It has a tristichous leaf arrangement, long thin leaflets, and slightly plumose leaves. General: There are a couple of well known horticultural varieties of this species. The solitary form was previously known as Dypsis lucubensis (Figure 2) although it could occasionally have 2 trunks. And there is the variety 'Diego' (Figure 3) (which refers to the area it was collected from) which is typically smaller than the standard form. It has a whitish colouring on the main stems and up into the crownshaft, and it holds it's leaflets erect where all the other forms always have the ends of the leaflet drooping. Culture: Sunny, well drained position. A fast growing palm which does well in cultivation. Figure 1. D. madagascariensis at Utopia Palms&Cycads, south-east Queensland.   Figure 2. D. madagascariensis var 'Lucubensis'. Figure 3. D. madagascariensis 'Diego' form. Contributed by: Mike Gray (Figure 1) Daryl O'Connor, Daryl's Palm Page (Figure 2) Clayton York, Utopia Palms & Cycads (Figure 3) For further information try Monocot Checklist Palm Web