555.000 Borassus L.

Description of the genus

Dioecious trees; stems often swollen in upper half. Leaves very large, persistent but eventually falling to leave a bare trunk; petiole armed with irregular black teeth, varying greatly in size and shape; lamina palmate or costapalmate, divided into numerous usually bifid segments; leaf segments with conspicuous cross-veins and lacking black spots. Inflorescences axillary. Male inflorescences composed of 3-6 partial inflorescences the branches of which terminate in 3 or more cylindric flower-bearing branches, each bearing pits enclosing a cincinnus of male flowers. Male flowers: sepals 3; corolla 3-lobed; stamens 6. Female inflorescence different to the male; simple or with 1-2 branches, each bearing large connate bracts with a solitary female flower in each axis. Female flowers: sepals 3; petals 3, similar to sepals; staminodes 6; ovary spherical, 3-locular. Fruit rounded, containing 1-3 pyrenes, with stigmatic remains borne at the apex.

Worldwide: 5 species occurring in Africa, Madagascar, India, Indochina, Indonesia, New Guinea and possibly N Australia.

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.

No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
aethiopum Mart.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Borassus:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Borassus
Flora of Malawi: Borassus
Flora of Mozambique: Borassus
Flora of Zambia: Borassus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Borassus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Borassus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Borassus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Borassus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Borassus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Borassus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Borassus
JSTOR Plant Science: Borassus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Borassus
Plants of the World Online: Borassus
Tropicos: Borassus
Wikipedia: Borassus

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Borassus.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=296, retrieved 28 March 2024

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