''Borassus akeassii'' is a species of
palmyra palm which is native to west and central
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. It occurs from
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
to
Congo-Kinshasa
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. It was first described in 2006, having previously been confused with ''
Borassus aethiopum'' and ''
Borassus flabellifer
''Borassus flabellifer'', commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh, East India, and South India) and Southeast As ...
''. It is used by local people for a variety of purposes, particularly sap extraction.
Description
This
palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
** List of Arecaceae genera
**Palm oil
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music ...
reaches impressive height of 15 meters, typically developing a noticeably swollen
trunk that may bear numerous irregular scars, often a result of external influences. The
crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
consists of a moderate to dense number of
glaucous
''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...
, fan-shaped
leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
, each supported by a sturdy
petiole with either serrated black teeth along the edges or, in some cases, nearly smooth margins. The
leaf blade is relatively flat, divided into numerous rigid
leaflets with pointed tips that may split over time. Fine, persistent hairs can sometimes be found along the ribs of younger leaves, gradually fading as they mature. The
adaxial hastula is well-defined, while the