| Locality | Prefecture Fenoarivo Atsinanana, Sub-prectureVavatenina, Vatovelona forest, ca. 10 km south of the village Manakambahiny 1, Zahamena strict nature reserve (Réserve Naturelle Intégrale), closed forest with undergrowth, medium slope |
| Field notes | Clustering tree; trunc straight, covered with red fibres; dbh 13 cm with fibres and 9.5 cm without; internodes 1.5 cm; crown with 10 - 15 leaves, marcescent, litter trapping; emerging leaves often reddish; leaf sheath open, disintegrating into fibres; petiole 90 - 100 cm long, green with brown scales, adaxial side flat, abaxial side round; rachis 200 - 300 cm long, adaxially flat to ridged, abaxially round; leaves pinnate, reduplicate, 40 pinnae on each side of rachis, regularly arranged, 5 cm apart; central pinnae 40 - 50 cm long; inflorescence infrafoliar, 80 cm long, green, branched to 3rd order; flower buds threelobed, 1 mm; uses: fibres (piassava) are used for rope making and the cleaning of sauce pans, etc., formerly an important export commodity, leaves are used to thatch roofs, traditionally the stem was used for the extraction of salt (as seasoning and as medicine against childrens' cough); local name: Vonitra or Ravintsera. |
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