Palms   Hyophorbe lagenicaulis

Common Names: Bottle Palm Conservation Status: Endangered in habitat (its now extinct in habitat on Mauritius), but very well established in cultivation. Distribution & Habitat: Endemic to Round Island and Mauritius, (the Mascarenes), and now restricted to a few individuals in habitat on Round Island.

Figure 1. A group of H. lagenicaulis showing the distinctive bottle shaped trunk.

Description:
A very distinctive medium sized palm, with a grey bottle shaped trunk, noticeable ring scars, and up to 60cm in diameter. It has a green or maroon crownshaft, with 4-8 finely pinnate leaves, up to 3.5m long.

General:
An interesting and easy to grow palm which will bceome a talking point when it gets bigger.

Culture:
Sunny, moist, but well drained position. Can tolerate very light frosts.

Figure 2. H. lagenicaulis at The Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Figure 3. Older plants in The Royal Botanic Gardens, Pamplemousses, Mauritius

This species is widely cultivated in Mauritius. As well as individual specimens in the capital, towns and villages, mass plantings are common at median strips and roundabouts. The stature of the palms in the Pamplemousses avenues varies from upright and regular, in the younger planting pictured, to grotesquely distorted in the older planting on A. d'Epinay Avenue near the gatehouse and entrance and exposed to perhaps over a century of cyclones, neglect and erosion.

Contributed by:	Roy Osborne/Stan Walkley (Figure 1).
	Carlo Morici (Figure 2)
	David Tanswell (Figure 3) - from Palms & Cycads No. 49, Oct-Dec 1995.

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