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Hyphaene compressa
Also called East African Doum Palm
Hyphaene compressa, also known as the East African doum palm, is a palm tree (family Palmae or Arecaceae) in the genus Hyphaene. It is a tree known for its unique dichotomous branching, unlike most palms which are not branched. This palm tree is abundant in Eastern Africa and is a vital socioeconomic resource to the rural pastoralist and agro-pastoralists there.
There is a high concentration of Hyphaene compressa along the coasts of northern East Africa, particularly Kenya and Tanzania. Additional countries with a high distribution include Somalia, Madagascar and Ethiopia. The palm also occurs to a lesser extent towards the Arabian Peninsula and India. The Doum Palm is densely concentrated around lakes and river ecosystems of the Turkana Valley and surrounding National Parks in Kenya.
Doum palm · Branching Doum Palm · Vegetable Ivory Palm · Doum Palm · Hyphaene
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hyphaene compressa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
