Common Name: Lala Palm

General Information

Lala palm is a very slow-growing, ascending or prostrate, evergreen palm tree eventually reaching a height of 6 metres or more[]. This is one of the very few species of palm that can form branches, though it usually only branches once or twice to form four crowns of fan-shaped leaves[]. The plant also suckers and forms clumps[].
An important plant for the local population in the semi-arid areas in which it grows, supplying food, drink and materials for making baskets, weaving, thatch etc[]. Products from the leaves are sold in local markets[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Southern and eastern Africa - Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, S. Africa, Madagascar.

Habitat

Hot, dry areas in poor or exhausted soils with impeded drainage[]. Often seen growing near but not on the banks of rivers, it is also common in coastal sands[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	5.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Plants succeed in moist tropical climates where temperatures never fall below 10°c, the average annual rainfall is 1,500mm or more and the driest month has 25mm or more rain[]. They can also succeed in drier areas with an annual rainfall as low as 250mm and one month or more where rainfall is below 25mm[].
Plants grow well in full sun, even when small[]. Prefers growing in alluvial sands[]. Found in the wild on poorly drained, light, dry soils of low fertility[].
A suckering palm, forming a clump of trunks[].
Dioecious, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[, ]. A sweet, somewhat gingery flavour[, ]. A very fibrous fruit, it makes a poor food[]. The fruit is much liked by children[]. The fruit takes two years to ripen, and may then hang on the tree for another two years before falling[].

The liquid, or 'milk', from the immature seed is used as a drink[, ]. It has the flavour and colour of coconut milk[].

A sap obtained by tapping the crown of the plant is fermented into a poor quality alcoholic beverage[]. It is said to taste like ginger beer when ripe[]. The sap is gathered by cutting off the top of a growing stem and harvesting the exudate. The sap hardens over the wound in due course, and another layer of stem is cut away until eventually the growing point is completely destroyed and the stem dies[]. Often when this happens the tree will sucker from the base, and thus the individual plant is not killed[].

The young shoots of germinated seeds are eaten as a vegetable[].

Medicinal

The fruit pulp is used as a treatment for stomach ache[].

Other Uses

The leaves are used for thatching or for weaving into baskets, mats etc[, , ]. A wide variety of baskets, mats and other items can be made from the fibres of lala palm leaves[]. The young pliable leaves are harvested, with only one third of the leaf taken, so the remainder can develop fully. They are boiled and then dried in the sun to soften them for weaving and may be coloured using natural dyes[].

Seed - used as a source of vegetable ivory[]. The seeds have very similar consistency and colouration to South American vegetable ivory, and could be used for the same purposes of making ornaments, buttons etc[295[.

Propagation

Seed - requires high temperatures to initiate germination. Place the seeds in containers in a well-drained medium in a sunny position - do not allow the soil to dry out or become too wet. Germination can take place within 2 weeks, and requires only one week for the seedling radicle to establish in the medium below the seed. A germination rate of 66% has been attained within 3 weeks[]. The seedling radicle rapidly sinks itself into the medium and is very brittle. At this stage the seedlings can be carefully potted out individually into larger pots to accommodate the vigorous root system[]. Keep the plants in full sun at all stages[].

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