You’d think it’s something from a cartoon, but no: these palm leaves operate as sails for canoes! And it doesn’t end there: no less than 36 uses of this palm are reported… From baskets and textiles to food and medicinal purposes. As you can see in this picture, leaves can get very big, sometimes even 8m (26ft)! The seeds of this palm can float in the water for a long time, until they end up somewhere where germination is possible.
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Does size matter?
March 26, 2020
Is bigger always better? 5 huge leaves and why they’re so big.
Does size matter?
A larger leaf means soaking up more sun, which means more growth! So is this the answer to the question? Nope, there’s much more going on than just the sunlight.
A bigger leaf loses more water than smaller ones. It’s just like sweating: in order to keep a decent temperature, a plant excretes water from the leaves. So being a big boy in a desert almost certainly leads to death: you can’t spare that much water over there!
But why are leaves in colder climates not bigger then? No risk of overheating over there, right? As it turns out, the risk of frost damage plays a large role as well. Tinier leaves are better able to extract warmth from their surroundings when it’s getting chilly.
The warm humid tropics though, that’s where you can get crazy with the leaf size! Enough water to sweat out the heat and no snow freezing you over. So no surprise that these 5 giants are all native to tropic areas:
A bigger leaf loses more water than smaller ones. It’s just like sweating: in order to keep a decent temperature, a plant excretes water from the leaves. So being a big boy in a desert almost certainly leads to death: you can’t spare that much water over there!
But why are leaves in colder climates not bigger then? No risk of overheating over there, right? As it turns out, the risk of frost damage plays a large role as well. Tinier leaves are better able to extract warmth from their surroundings when it’s getting chilly.
The warm humid tropics though, that’s where you can get crazy with the leaf size! Enough water to sweat out the heat and no snow freezing you over. So no surprise that these 5 giants are all native to tropic areas:
5. Dinosaur food (Gunnera manicata)
This one is for all you in the northern regions of Europe. It doesn’t get any bigger than this over here! Its original habitat is Brazil: it’s native to the mountain forests in the South-East. Leaves grow up to 2m (6,6 ft), sometimes even 3m (9,8ft)! The underside of the leaf and the petioles have spikes on them, so covering for rain under this one is a bit risky! Though the common name for G. manicata is giant rhubarb, it is not closely related to rhubarb.
Researchers found it contains medicinal qualities: phenolic compounds are effective against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively a yeast and a bacterium in the human body that can both become a serious nuisance when overgrowing.
Researchers found it contains medicinal qualities: phenolic compounds are effective against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively a yeast and a bacterium in the human body that can both become a serious nuisance when overgrowing.
4. Ethiopia’s tree against hunger (Ensete ventricosum)
This member of the banana family is called the ‘tree against hunger’ because this multipurpose staple crop provides food for approximately 20 million Ethiopians. You’re thinking about bananas now, aren’t you? Nope, that’s not the edible part of this plant! It’s the pseudostem base and the underground bulb that provide the starch-rich food.
Leaves of this plant can grow up to 5m (16,4ft) tall! Other names for this plant are Ethiopian banana, false banana, Abyssinian banana or enset.
Leaves of this plant can grow up to 5m (16,4ft) tall! Other names for this plant are Ethiopian banana, false banana, Abyssinian banana or enset.
3. Sail away, sail way, sail away (Manicaria saccifera)
2. Tallest of them all (Raphia regalis)
Leaves more than 25m (82ft)
tall. How… I mean, how?? Can you imagine? It’s perfectly understandable these leaves are used to make furniture, amongst other things. Truth be told: the leaves are not entire, they’re made up of 180 separate leaflets along the main leaf stem. But still… horror movies could be made about these giant things, right??
Ironically, despite being a very important source for a large part of Africa, surprisingly little is known of this species, and thus very little photo's are available! I couldn't find any that shows the hugeness of the plant.
1. The queen of flowers (Victoria amazonica)
Formerly known as Victoria regina or regia, referring to queen Victoria. The lily pads grow 3m (10ft) in diameter
and can hold a small child easily! This plant produces the largest flowers in the world: up to 40cm (16inch) in diameter. They bloom only two nights. The first night, it smells like pineapple, the second night the scent is gone. Why? So the beetle that has to pollinate it, gets encouraged to go to another flower. Perfect example of how beautiful and smart nature is!
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