Raphia vinifera
English: West African piassava palm; Bamboo palm; West African bass fibre.
Genus: 20 species.
Region: Africa, Madagascar.
Content: bitter oil, stupefying fish.
Use: fibers, from the veins of the leaves; fruit called brazilia pods, uxi nuts or uxi pods.
Botany
Tree; 16 m tall; monocarpic, die after the seeds are mature; some have a root system which remains alive and sends up new stems which fruit.
Leaves: compound, pinnate; long 25 m long and 3 m wide; monocarpic; dying after the seeds are mature or hapaxanthic, individual stems dying after fruiting but the root system remaining alive.