CSIR-NEERI Biodiversity Portal

ROYAL PALM

Roystonea regia (Kunth) O.F.Cook

Botanical name	: Roystonea regia (Kunth) O.F.Cook
Synonym	: Oreodoxa regia Kunth
Vernacular name	: Royal Palm
Family	: Arecaceae
About the Tree	: The Royal Palm is an ornamental plant and is a monocotyledon plant. The trunk of the Royal Palm is swollen at the base. It constricts about halfway up and then bulges again just below the crown shaft creating a dramatic profile. It is native to southern Florida, Mexico and parts of Central America and the Caribbean.
Height	: Grows up to 30-35 m.
Bark	: Bark is smooth and light brown in colour.
Leaf	: The eight inch long leaflets are arranged in rows along the 10' length of bright green pinnate leaves. Composed of 15 - 20 leaves, the canopy sits atop the crown shaft - a smooth, glossy extension of the trunk composed of the overlapping bases of the leaves.
Flower	: Inflorescence is about 1 m long and 1 m wide on which both male and female flowers are borne, just at the base of the green crown shaft. The creamy, cup-shaped flowers with purplish anthers are borne in large clustered panicles.
Fruits	: The fruit are spheroid to ellipsoid in shape, 8.9-15 mm. long and 7-10.9 mm. wide. They are green when immature, turning red and eventually purplish-black as they mature.
Season	: Flowers produced periodically throughout the year but mostly in summer.
Medicinal Properties Peculiar Character	: The roots are used as a diuretic. : The presence of rhizobia containing root nodules is usually associated with nitrogen fixation in legumes; this was the first record of root nodules in a monocotyledonous tree.