Ravenala madagascariensis - Traveller's palm

The Ravenala madacascariensis, known by its common name the Traveller's Tree, is a magnificent tropical plant, wonderfully exotic, emblematic of the island of Madagascar and cultivated in all tropical zones of the world for garden ornamentation. This arborescent plant has a silhouette recognisable above all others, with a false trunk supporting long pinnate leaves similar to those of some banana plants, but perfectly arranged in a fan shape, all in the same plane. Under good conditions, mature plants offer a beautiful cream-white flowering which strongly evokes that of the Bird of Paradise Strelitzia alba. This frost-tender plant can only be planted in the ground in extremely sheltered locations within the orange tree cultivation zone. Elsewhere, it is grown in a container, to be moved into a conservatory or greenhouse from September until mid-May.

The Ravenala madascariensis belongs to the Strelitziaceae family (the Bird-of-Paradise plants), and is also a distant cousin of banana plants and gingers. It is native to Madagascar, where it grows in sandy or stony soils, very moist at depth. It is an arborescent plant and not a tree, like palms or bananas: it does not produce a true trunk, but a stipe. It owes its name 'Traveller's Tree' to its ability to store water; its abundant sap is drinkable and easy to extract with a machete. Conversely, the rainwater that accumulates at the base of its leaves, sometimes stagnant, is mainly useful to some small animals such as amphibians, beetles, and mosquitoes. In the wild, the Ravenala develops a stipe exceeding 10 m in height and stands up to 20 m from the ground. In Madagascar, the pollination of the flowers is carried out by lemurs and bats.

Grown in a large container, the Traveller's Tree rarely exceeds 3 m in height, even less if it is planted in a pot of smaller volume. It is roughly as wide as it is tall. Its stipe is brown in colour. It supports vast leaves that can measure 3 m long for plants established in the ground, divided into numerous trailing segments on each side of the central midrib. They are arranged in a fan shape, all in the same plane. Their cup-shaped base holds rainwater. The leaf petioles are tightly packed, dark in colour, edged with orange, and covered with a whitish wax. They are longer than the leaf laminae. When it flowers, this Traveller's Tree produces large, very original white flowers, composed of 3 sepals, 3 petals and 6 stamens, contained within spathes measuring 15 to 20 cm long. In Madagascar, flowering begins in September. The fruits somewhat resemble hard bananas; they contain numerous seeds surrounded by fibres of an intense blue.

The Ravenala madagascariensis is a magnificent plant for a conservatory or heated greenhouse. This plant must not lack light, heat, space, water, nor nutrients during its growth period. One can easily create an exotic setting around it by adding a strelitzia, cannas and banana plants, Castor Oil Plant, gingers, and a small palm such as the Sabal minor, for example. In the most sheltered gardens on the French Riviera, one can attempt to grow it in the ground, with regular watering in summer, and provided there is good winter protection.