Corypha umbraculifera

The Talipot has one of the tallest and most impressive palms with its huge trunk, up to 3" to 5" in diameter. The trunk is covered with old leaf buses. It grows up to a height of more than 100 ft. and has very large fan leaves, up to 16" wide. The leaves, used as parasols and ambrellas, are large enough to shelter 7-8 people. This palm has an enormous inflorescence, shaped like an umbrella which is the largest flower cluster in the plant kingdom. It grows slowly and lives between 60 to 80 years. The talipot has round dark-green fruits falling by the thousands when ripe. When the plant reaches maturity at 20 to 80 years, the tree begins producing somewhat smaller leaves and develops a gigantic flowerstalk at the very top. 12-18 months later up to a ton of mature seeds are scattered as the tree dies.

On the photo by Jean Elms the blooming Talipot palm is during its "dying" moments, over 90 ft tall and about 32 years old. First comes the green shoots from the top which open out into feathery head of small flowers which stink to high hell to attract insects - then the seeds come which is one seed with fruit around it which attracts every fruit bat and bush-baby for miles around at night to eat them.

Similar plants:

• Corypha sp. (Dhaka Plant (C. taliera), Gebang Palm)