South American Travellers Palm (Phenakospermum guyannense)

The South American travellers palm is related to the travellers palm of Madagascar, but is rarer and therefore less known. The South American species has its own genus (Phenakospermum) and is the only species in this genus. Originally it grows in the Amazon delta of Brazil, but it can also be seen in Surinam of French Guyana. It can grow up to 10 metres with large leaves that grow in a fan-like shape. In Brazil the leaf is used to wrap fish with. The flowers are huge and look like those of Heliconias. After flowering the plant forms large seed capsules with plenty of extraordinary seeds.

Sowing description: First remove the red fluff from the seeds and scarify the seeds with sand paper untill you see a change of colour. Then, soak for 24 hours in luke warm water and sow in sowing mix. Keep soil lightly moistened and germinate at 25-30 degrees Celsius. Germination usually occurs after a few weeks, but can take longer. As long as the seeds are still solid, germination can occur.