Dypsis gronophyllum

Dypsis gronophyllum is known only from parts of the Vondrozo region in the south-east of Madagascar, where its numbers are extremely low. All the sites at which this palm have been found are within a 10 km² area. Only about 40 mature individuals have been seen in the wild, growing in valley bottoms in very humid forest, at approximately 590 m above sea level.

Dypsis gronophyllum is a clustering palm with 2-4 slender stems of up to 4 m tall and 1-1.5 cm in diameter, each with a well-defined crownshaft (a conspicuous cylinder formed by tubular leaf sheaths at the top of the stem). The crown of the palm comprises 7-12 leaves, the undersurfaces of which are sparsely to densely covered in red hairs. The leaves are pinnate with 7-9 leaflets irregularly arranged along each side of the central rachis, and are up to 40 cm long. The leaflets are leathery and dark bluish-green, and irregularly praemorse (appearing nibbled or bitten off) at the tips. The inflorescences are borne between the leaves and are densely hairy in places. Each inflorescence is up to approximately 60 cm long and carries flowers in clusters of three (known as triads), each flower being no more than 2 mm in diameter.

Known from only a few sites, within an area of only 10 km², in the forests of Vondrozo, the numbers of Dypsis gronophyllum are extremely low. Fewer than 40 mature individuals have been seen and it is considered to be a Critically Endangered species. The habitat in which it is found is subject to human exploitation for wood and other natural resources.

A dried specimen of Dypsis gronophyllum is held in Kew’s Herbarium, where it is made available to bona fide researchers from around the world by appointment. No spirit-preserved material or living collections of the species are held at Kew.

Search Kew's databases for more information on this species

Madagascar Threatened Plants Project

World Checklist of Monocotyledons

PALMweb