The traveller’s palm is another of Madagascar’s most unusual plants. The name “traveller’s palm” refers to the water source for travellers that accumulates in numerous sections of the plant, including leaf folds, flower bracts, and inside each hollow leaf base.The traveler’s palm is not a real palm; it belongs to the streliziaceae (bird of paradise) family. An inflorescence up to 15 cm long has a large number of little creamy white blooms. A mature traveller’s palm can bloom year-round and produce brown fruits with pale blue seeds. The traveler’s palm tolerates sandy and clayey soils with adequate drainage, but it flourishes in rich, wet, loamy soils.
