''Rhapis excelsa'', also known as broadleaf lady palm or bamboo palm,
[ is a ]species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of fan palm
Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of palms (Arecaceae) in various genera with leaves that are palmately lobed (rather than pinnately compound). Most are members of the subfamily Coryphoideae, though a few ...
(Arecaceae subfamily Coryphoideae, tribe Trachycarpeae) in the genus ''Rhapis
''Rhapis'' is a genus of about 10 species of small palms native to southeastern Asia from southern Japan and southern China south to Sumatra. The species are commonly known as lady palms.
They are fan palms
Fan palm as a descriptive term ...
'', probably native to southern China and Taiwan. It is not known in the wild; all known plants come from cultivated groups in China. They were first collected by the Japanese for Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
palaces, then popularity spread to Europe, and later to America where its low light and humidity requirements make it a common feature in malls and offices. The genus name is Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
- ''rhapis'', meaning "needle"; and the species name is Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "tall", though ''R. excelsa'' is not the tallest in the genus.
Description
''Rhapis excelsa'' grows up to 4 m in height and 30 mm in diameter in multi-stemmed clumps with glossy, palmate evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...
leaves divided into broad, ribbed segments. Leaf segments are single or few in young plants and increase to a dozen or more in mature plants; segments are divided to the petiole. Leaf-ends are saw-toothed unlike most other palms, occurring on slender petioles ranging from 20 to 60 cm in length. New foliage emerges from a fibrous sheath which remains attached to the base. As the plants age, the sheaths fall, revealing the bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
-like trunks. This usually dioecious palm species produces a small inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
at the top of the plant with spirally-arranged, fleshy yellow flowers containing three petals fused at the base. Ripe fruit are fleshy and white, though ''R. excelsa'' more readily propagates via underground rhizome offshoots.
In the UK this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
’s Award of Garden Merit.
Gallery
Image:Rhapisexcelsainflorescence.JPG, Immature inflorescence
Image:Rhapisexcelsafoliage.JPG, ''R. excelsa'' foliage
Image:Rhapisexcelsatrunks.JPG, Sheathed and exposed stems
Image:Rexcelsafruit.JPG, In fruit
Image:Excelsaleaf.JPG, Proximally tomentose abaxial midribs
File:觀音棕竹 Rhapis excelsa 20221104191946 01.jpg, Stems clustered. Taken on a mountain road.
File:觀音棕竹 Rhapis excelsa 20221104191946 02.jpg, The middle segment(s) of the leaf is broader.
References
*Moore, H. E., Jr. (1963). An annotated checklist of cultivated palms. ''Principes'' 7: 162, 180.S
*Zhong Guo & Hua Jing. (1993). China Floral Encyclopaedia
External links
PACSAO.org
{{Taxonbar, from=Q164097
Rhapis, excelsa
Flora of China