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Raphia vinifera
Also called Raphia Palm, Bamboo Palm
Raphia vinifera, the West African piassava palm, bamboo palm or West African bass fibre is a palm tree species in the genus Raphia. It is native to Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo ( = Zaire = Congo-Kinshasa). It is particularly abundant along the creeks of Niger Delta, Cross River, Lagos and Ikorodu in Nigeria.
The nut contains bitter oil, which has the property of stupefying fish. The variety or subspecies found in the Niger River delta is called the "King Raphia" (Raphia vinifera var. nigerica) is extraordinary in being the only known type of palm with opposite pairs of leaves. This variety also differs in having reddish petioles.
Giant Palm · Raffia palm · Ivory Coast raphia palm · Raphia palm · Sudan raphia palm · Pinecone Palm · Raffia palm
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Raphia vinifera 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.
