Native to the Mascarene Islands east of Mauritius.
The bottle palm is also known as Mascarena lagenicaulis.
The solitary palms, often 3 to 4 m high can grow to 6 m.
The swollen base, tapering to a narrow upper section resembles a wine bottle.
From 60 or 70 cm across at the base it narrows to around 20 cm at the top.
The ring scars on the grey trunk are most marked at the top.
There are multiple close vertical cracks on the lower section.
The palms only have 4 to 6 (8) pinnate leaves on an around 18 cm long petiole.
The 1 m bright green crownshaft has a waxy coating that wears off.
The midrib, up to 30 cm long has about 40 opposite pairs of leaflets (pinnae).
On each side of the midrib the pinnae are all angled up the same amount.
The ‘V’ shaped blade also has a slight twist to one side.
The close linear to lance-shaped pinnae have a pointed tip.
Up to 60 cm long in the middle of the blade they are 2 to 3 cm wide.
Edges of the pinnae are folded down and the they have around 4 prominent yellow veins.
There are large dark scales (rameta) on the lower leaflet midrib.
Inflorescences, under the leaf bases below the crownshaft are a panicle.
The prophyll (basal bract) and the up to 8 peduncular bracts all fall.
Around 1 m long, half the inflorescence is the peduncle and half the midrib.
Panicles have 3 to 4 levels of branching into thin pendulous 25 cm long rachillae.
Along the rachillae flowers are in spirally arranged groups of up to 8.
Each group (acervulus) has a solitary female flower at the proximal end.
The distal male flowers open and fall before the females are mature.
Flowers, with small bracteoles have 3 sepals and petals.
Male flowers have wide to almost round yellow-green sepals.
Around 1.5 mm long they are joined at the base.
The 2 mm petals, initially pale green become cream to pale yellow.
The 6 free stamens have dorsifixed anthers and there is a small pistillode.
Female flowers
The sepals, joined at the base in the bud later overlap.
Petals, 2.5 mm long and joined at the base have their edges touching.
In mature open flowers the petals are white with pale yellow tips.
There are 6 staminodes around the 3-lobed ovary which has 3 curved-back stigmas.
The 2 cm long, ellipsoidal fruit mature from green to red or orange then black.
A thin fleshy layer surrounds the single smooth brown seed.
J.F.
