Raphia farinifera and Hyphaene petersiana?

[Mbuna]

Hello, I'm new here.
I have a small piece of land in Malawi and I want to plant different types of trees and African palms.

They have sold me a small palm tree saying it is Raphia farinifera but I am not sure. What do you think?

 

I have also observed that in the area there are large specimens of Hyphaene petersiana and some Borassus aethiopum.

There are some small palm trees growing that cannot be identified, could they be young specimens of Hyphaene petersiana?

Thanks

[Mbuna]

1 minute ago, Mbuna said:

Hello, I'm new here.
I have a small piece of land in Malawi and I want to plant different types of trees and African palms.

They have sold me a small palm tree saying it is Raphia farinifera but I am not sure. What do you think?

I have also observed that in the area there are large specimens of Hyphaene petersiana and some Borassus aethiopum.

There are some small palm trees growing that cannot be identified, could they be young specimens of Hyphaene petersiana?

Thanks

 

[Fusca]

12 hours ago, Mbuna said:

Hello, I'm new here.
I have a small piece of land in Malawi and I want to plant different types of trees and African palms.

They have sold me a small palm tree saying it is Raphia farinifera but I am not sure. What do you think?

 

I have also observed that in the area there are large specimens of Hyphaene petersiana and some Borassus aethiopum.

There are some small palm trees growing that cannot be identified, could they be young specimens of Hyphaene petersiana?

Thanks

Welcome to Palmtalk!  None of the photos you have posted here are Raphia which are pinnate palms.  The first photo appears to be a clustering palm which isn't characteristic of Hyphaene petersiana unless it is several palms planted very close to each other and then trimmed back to two individuals.  Maybe they are there but I don't see any petiole thorns in either photo which I would expect to see on a Hyphaene of that size.

[Mbuna]

6 hours ago, Fusca said:

Welcome to Palmtalk!  None of the photos you have posted here are Raphia which are pinnate palms.  The first photo appears to be a clustering palm which isn't characteristic of Hyphaene petersiana unless it is several palms planted very close to each other and then trimmed back to two individuals.  Maybe they are there but I don't see any petiole thorns in either photo which I would expect to see on a Hyphaene of that size.

Hello, thank you for your reply. There are large areas of these small palm trees growing everywhere in the area.

Here is another photo where you can see the thorns. 

[Marius]

Hi. If it’s clustering it is Hypheane coriacea. H Coriacea and H petersiana are the only two southern African Hypheane species that I know of. Here is a picture of a young Raphia australis ( South Africa and southern mocambique)  I think it should look similar to other Raphia palms of the same age. 

[Mbuna]

11 hours ago, Marius said:

Hi. If it’s clustering it is Hypheane coriacea. H Coriacea and H petersiana are the only two southern African Hypheane species that I know of. Here is a picture of a young Raphia australis ( South Africa and southern mocambique)  I think it should look similar to other Raphia palms of the same age. 

Thanks for the response.

Looking at images on the internet and comparing them with the palm trees in the area it seems that you are right and they are Hyphaene coriacea, thank you.

 

I have taken some more photos of the other palm tree so that it can be seen better.

Did you already have the orange central stripe on your Raphia since it was young? Or did it come out later?

 

If it's not a Raphia, what could it be?

[Fusca]

14 hours ago, Marius said:

Here is a picture of a young Raphia australis ( South Africa and southern mocambique)  I think it should look similar to other Raphia palms of the same age. 

Nice palm Marius!  Does it have much cold tolerance?  I haven't heard much about this genera of palms.  Do you intend on planting in the ground at your place?

[Tyrone]

3 hours ago, Mbuna said:

Thanks for the response.

Looking at images on the internet and comparing them with the palm trees in the area it seems that you are right and they are Hyphaene coriacea, thank you.

 

I have taken some more photos of the other palm tree so that it can be seen better.

Did you already have the orange central stripe on your Raphia since it was young? Or did it come out later?

 

If it's not a Raphia, what could it be?

Welcome to Palmtalk Mbuna.
From your pictures it kind of looks like a Chrysalidocarpus (which used to be Dypsis). To me it looks like a shade grown Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, a Madagascan palm. 

[Mbuna]

9 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Welcome to Palmtalk Mbuna.
From your pictures it kind of looks like a Chrysalidocarpus (which used to be Dypsis). To me it looks like a shade grown Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, a Madagascan palm. 

Oh really? Chrysalidocarpus decaryi was another species that I wanted to have, so perfect.

Thanks for the reply 

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, Mbuna said:

Oh really? Chrysalidocarpus decaryi was another species that I wanted to have, so perfect.

Thanks for the reply 

That’s really good then. 
 

Earlier you were talking about Hyphaene petersiana. I saw these on TV the other day growing in Namibia. A beautiful palm that you should be able to grow well if you can find it. I love seeing palms growing in the wild. 

[Mbuna]

4 hours ago, Tyrone said:

That’s really good then. 
 

Earlier you were talking about Hyphaene petersiana. I saw these on TV the other day growing in Namibia. A beautiful palm that you should be able to grow well if you can find it. I love seeing palms growing in the wild. 

Yes, I would like to have a collection of palm trees, especially African and Malagasy.

I have in mind more species of Hyphaene and also Borassus aethiopum, Bismarckia nobilis, Phoenix reclinata, Dictyosperma album, Raphia farinifera, Elaeis guineensis, etc.

Other species that I already have are Cocos nucifera and this other palm that I also cannot identify.

And I also have a long list of trees.

I have started with Moringa drouhardii, Adansonia digitata and Adansonia grandidieri.

Moringa drouhardii 

 

Adansonia grandidieri 

Adansonia digitata 

[Marius]

This one looks like a juvenile Syagrus ronanzoffianum. 

[Marius]

On 1/23/2025 at 11:53 PM, Fusca said:

Nice palm Marius!  Does it have much cold tolerance?  I haven't heard much about this genera of palms.  Do you intend on planting in the ground at your place?

Thanks Fusca. I am not sure. I planted ons last summer in the garden in a very sheltered spot, but then we had an unusually cold spell for three days with black frost in which it died. Got this one and will plant it again. See how it fares….

[Tyrone]

On 1/25/2025 at 1:53 AM, Mbuna said:

Yes, I would like to have a collection of palm trees, especially African and Malagasy.

I have in mind more species of Hyphaene and also Borassus aethiopum, Bismarckia nobilis, Phoenix reclinata, Dictyosperma album, Raphia farinifera, Elaeis guineensis, etc.

Other species that I already have are Cocos nucifera and this other palm that I also cannot identify.

And I also have a long list of trees.

I have started with Moringa drouhardii, Adansonia digitata and Adansonia grandidieri.

Moringa drouhardii 

 

Adansonia grandidieri 

Adansonia digitata 

It looks like the palm collecting bug has bitten you, and of all the bugs to be bitten by,  that’s the best one. 🙂

Good trees too. You will have to show us pics of how things grow over time. 

[Mbuna]

On 1/25/2025 at 12:41 PM, Marius said:

This one looks like a juvenile Syagrus ronanzoffianum. 

Okay,  thanks for the species identification 

[Mbuna]

On 1/26/2025 at 2:46 AM, Tyrone said:

It looks like the palm collecting bug has bitten you, and of all the bugs to be bitten by,  that’s the best one. 🙂

Good trees too. You will have to show us pics of how things grow over time. 

Yeah, that's right.
I will be updating how the palm trees and trees are growing.