Raffia palm

Raphia}}

Raffia palms are members of the genus ''Raphia''. The Malagasy name is derived from '''' "to squeeze juice". The genus contains about twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and especially Madagascar, with one species (''R. taedigera'') also occurring in Central and South America. ''R. taedigera'' is the source of raffia fibers, which are the veins of the leaves, and this species produces a fruit called "brazilia pods", "uxi nuts" or "uxi pods".

They grow up to tall and are remarkable for their compound pinnate leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom; leaves of ''R. regalis'' up to long and wide are known. The plants are monocarpic, meaning that they flower once and then die after the seeds are mature. Some species have individual stems which die after fruiting, but have a root system which remains alive and sends up new stems which fruit. Provided by Wikipedia