Appearance
The typical form of ''Borassus aethiopum'' is a solitary palm to 25 metres in height and 1 metre in diameter at the base. In the river bottoms of many East African rivers a closely related form can be up to seven feet thick at breast height above ground) and having the same thickness in its upper ventricosity. It also has a height of up to 100 feet . The fan-shaped leaves are 3 metres wide in the bottomlands form) with petioles 2 metres long; the margins are armed with spines. In male plants, the small flowers are largely concealed within the scaly catkins; the much larger female flowers reach 2 centimetres wide and produce yellow to brown fruits. Each fruit contains 1-3 seeds, each enclosed within a woody endocarp. The floodplains variety is almost certainly the most massive of all palms.Uses
The tree has many uses: the fruit are edible, as are the tender roots produced by the young plant; fibres can be obtained from the leaves; and the wood can be used in construction.References:
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