Raphia farinifera is a tropical African palm tree occurring in lowland riparian and swamp forest, also around human habitations and cultivated locations, on stream banks and other moist situations at altitudes of 50–1000 m. Found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and naturalised in east lowlands of Madagascar. Its generic epithet is derived from raphis = 'needle', probably in reference to the 4 mm long yellowish spines on the margins and main veins of the leaflets.
From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Is it poisonous?
We have no record of Raphia farinifera being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.
Easily confused with
- Raphia australis
- Astrocaryum vulgare
- Syagrus cearensis
- Syagrus coronata
- Elaeis guineensis
- Syagrus flexuosa
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Liliopsida
- Order
- Arecales
- Family
- Arecaceae
- Genus
- Raphia
- Species
- Raphia farinifera
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