Traveler tree
| Traveler tree | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Ravenala | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Ravenala madagascariensis | ||||||||||||
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The tree of travelers ( Ravenala madagascariensis ) is the only plant species of the monotypic genus Ravenala from the family of the Strelitziae (Strelitziaceae). It is considered to be the heraldic tree of Madagascar and only occurs there.
Description and ecology
Vegetative characteristics
Ravenala madagascariensis is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches stature heights of 10 to 15 meters. It forms a palm-like trunk that does not lignify.
The leaves are up to 3 meters long and are divided into leaf blades (main part) and long petioles, which come together in the boat-like leaf base of the tightly spaced leaves (lower part of the leaf) (stylized in the logo of Air Madagascar ). Rainwater collects in the leaf base, which can be obtained by piercing the leaf base, which has given this plant species its common name "tree of travelers" as a water dispenser in need. However, this is only suitable to a limited extent as drinking water, as it is mostly contaminated (rotten leaves, mosquito larvae, dead animals). Another explanation for the name is the fact that the leaves tend to grow in an east-west direction and can therefore provide orientation.
Generative characteristics
The inflorescences arise in the leaf axils. They protrude from the tuft of leaves and are perfectly adapted to bird pollination ( ornithophilia ). In the axils of boat-shaped bracts numerous blooms stand with six white to yellowish bloom cladding and six stamens and three carpels have become an ovary grown. The pollinating bird sits down on one of the bracts and must now bend forward to reach the nectar in the flower of the same inflorescence below it. When you touch it, the flower opens explosively, showering the bird's chest with pollen, which it then carries on to the next flower. The flowers of the Ravenala are also visited by lemurs, which feast on the nectar and pollinate the flowers in the process. The Traveler's Tree is one of the few plants that mammals pollinate.
A triple, woody capsule fruit is formed that is up to 8 centimeters long; it contains seeds with a blue coat ( arillus ).
distribution
From Ravenala madagascariensis few localities in are Madagascar known.
Systematics
Ravenala madagascariensis was first published by Pierre Sonnerat . Synonyms for Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn. are: Urania ravenalia Rich. , Urania speciosa Willd. , Heliconia ravenala Willemet .
use
The long-stemmed leaves are used to cover the roof, the veins as building material. The starchy seeds and young leaves are edible. The halved and hollowed trunk of the Ravenala is traditionally used in Madagascar to cover roofs.
It is used as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens in the tropics and subtropics.
photos
leaves
Habit with inflorescence
inflorescence
Fruit cluster
tribe
Petioles
Leaf base
swell
- Datasheet at Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk . (engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tree of travelers on botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Ravenala madagascariensis at Tropicos.org. In: Catalog of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ^ Ravenala at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed June 8, 2020.
Web links
- Ravenala madagascariensis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- Data sheet with photo at Flowers of India .