Kafir palm

Description

Evergreen tree to 5(-8) m tall. Bark grey, rough, adhering. Stems round, unarmed. Leaves alternate, pinnate, 3-4 m long; petioles 400-600 mm long, hairless. Leaflet blade 250-500 mm long, 8-26 mm wide, linear; apices narrowly pointed; surface glossy; veins hairless; margin without teeth. Inflorescence an axillary, erect panicle. Pedicels 0. Perianth consisting of a calyx and corolla. Flower radially symmetrical. Petals and sepals unequal in size. Calyx of 3 free, triangular, creamy sepals. Corolla of 3 free, ovate, white or creamy to green petals, without markings. Plants with separate male and female flowers, arranged with two males flanking each female. Stamens (7-)8-16. Ovary superior, 3-locular. Styles 3. Fruit a round, hairless berry 20-40 mm long, 20-42 mm in diameter; rind smooth, leathery, orange. Seeds dark brown. Among South African palms ours is most similar to the wild date (Phoenix reclinata) when not in fruit. Two easily observed leaf characters serve to separate them, however. Firstly, the lowest leaflets of a date palm leaf are hardened into prickles, but in the Pondo palm they are soft. Second, although as in most palms the leaflets are folded into a V, the fold in the middle points down in a date, and up in the Pondo palm.