Palms   Hyphaene thebaica

Synonymy:
Unknown

Common Names:
Doum Palm,
Gingerbread Palm

Distribution:
Coastal north-eastern Africa

Habitat:
Open grasslands, and desert.

Description:
A very distinctive fan palm which is one of the few palms which branches.

General:
The ancient Egyptians buried large numbers of this species fruits in the tombs of their pharaos.

Culture:
Sunny, very well drained position. Can tolerate temperate clmates, but prefers it hot. It can tolerate lots of water as well, as long as the drainage is good (there is a very large Doum palm in the Singapore Botanic Gardens). Very drought tolerant.

When planting the seed, make sure to use a very deep pot, since the seed sends down a very long trap root, or "sinker".

Figure 1. H. thebaica in habitat, north Africa.

Figure 2. H. thebaica

Figure 3. H. thebaica , Kameram, north Africa.

Contributed by:

Peter v. Sengbusch (Figure 1,2&3)

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