The genus Phoenix corresponds to the translation of the Greek phoinix = palm. In Greek, phoinix is the feminine of phoenix, the name given to the famous mythological bird, which is reborn from its own ashes as the date palm is reborn after a fire. Another explanation is its supposed Phoenician origin. The specific epithet reclinata, from the Latin reclinatus = inclined, highlights the curved bearing of the leaves.
| Common name | Senegal Palm |
| Origin | It grows in most of the African continent, from Senegal to southern Africa, Madagascar and the Comores Islands. Its distribution varies from sea level up to the mountains, where it prefers damp places and is represented by different ecotypes. |
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Description |
Cespitose palm, with numerous slender stalks, pinnate, curved leaves with glossy dark green pinnules; petioles fine, yellowish and armed with thorns. Monoecious palm, with male inflorescence consisting of small creamy-white flowers. Female floral raceme with yellow peduncle, turning orange. The fruits (drupes) are yellow-orange in colour with a sugary pulp, on which the birds feed, promoting their dispersal. The seed, similar to a coffee bean, is marked, as with all Phoenix, by a longitudinal groove. In some African regions, the sugary sap is extracted to make ‘palm wine’, while the woven leaves are used to form carpets and household utensils. The shoots can be eaten raw or cooked as vegetables by local people, while the leaves are good food for elephants. The wood, which is strong and not very putrescible, is used to build huts. A use of P. reclinata in traditional medicine is noted. The P.reclinata palms in the Villa Ormond gardens were planted in 1974-80. |