Broadleaf lady palm (Rhapis excelsa)

Broadleaf lady palm (Rhapis excelsa) is a species of plant in the Arecaceae, forming dense clumps with broad, fan-shaped, dark green leaves, growing up to 4 meters and a stem diameter of 30 mm.

R. excelsa is a multi-stemmed clump with glossy leaves divided into broad, ribbed segments. Leaf segments are single or few in young plants and increase to a dozen or more in mature plants. Segments are divided on the petiole.



Slender petioles with a length of 20-60 cm. New leaves emerge from the fibrous sheaths that remain attached to the base. As the plant ages, the petals fall off to reveal a bamboo-like stem.

Small inflorescence at the top of the plant with fleshy flowers which are arranged spirally and contain three petals fused at the base. Ripe fruit is fleshy and white. This species prefers to propagate via underground rhizome branches.

The stem height reaches 2.5 m with a frond diameter of 15-21 mm and 8-12 mm without fronds. The leaf sheaths loosely wrap around the stem, usually with outer and inner fibers of equal thickness, producing a squarish web, some young sheaths with flatter and coarser outer fibers and tomentum, the ligule not remaining intact at maturity.

Petiole up to 4 mm wide, margin often smooth, rarely scabby, often contains brown papillae. V-shaped or semicircular blade, variable in size, often with a prominent palm, segments 4-13, crease 11-25, up to 375 mm long, broad, sides relatively straight, slightly tapering at base and apex, apex sometimes clustered, usually truncated, with regularly toothed secondary divisions, primary divisions up to 2.5-61 mm from base of blade, sometimes with brown papillae at base and along ribs, sometimes scaly along adaxial ribs, thick texture, adaxial and abaxial surfaces have color which are similar, often with a yellow tinge, adaxial sometimes darker, transverse leaf veins conspicuous.

Male and female inflorescences are similar in general appearance and branch into 2 or 3 orders. Tubular prophyll, overlapping base of first bract rachis, relatively thin texture, reddish-brown, sometimes darker at base, inner surface smooth, outer surface with tomentum often only at distal end.

Rachis bracts 2-3, sometimes with incomplete distal bract, similar to profile. Overall length rachis up to 260 mm, diameter 4-8 mm. Rachillae 7.5-110 mm long, 0.8-1.9 mm in diameter, usually glabrous, pale brown, sometimes with a small patch of tomentum caducous. Solid flowers on rachillae.

Male flowers are round when young, elongated when mature measuring 5.2 x 3.8 mm. Petals up to 2.8 mm, lobes up to 2 mm, usually with regular margins. Corolla sometimes narrows into a short stalk up to 1 mm long. Filaments, rows up to 2.2 mm shorter, rows longer, up to 2.5 mm, broad, up to 0.4 mm, adaxial keel, triangular cross-section. Pistillode sometimes present.

Female flowers up to 3.6 x 3.2 mm. Petals to 2.3 mm. Corolla with receiver stem up to 1.1 mm. Staminode is present. Fruit sometimes with 3 developed carpels, often only one reaching maturity, up to 8-10 x 8 mm, borne on a short receptive stalk up to 2 mm long, translucent shiny epicarp, small papillose, with inconspicuous black lenticels.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Trachycarpeae
Subtribe: Rhapidinae
Genus: Rhapis L.f. ex Aiton in Hortus Kew. 3: 473 (1789)
Species: Rhapis excelsa (Thunb.) A.Henry in J. Arnold Arbor. 11: 153 (1930)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Chamaerops excelsa Thunb. in J.A.Murray (ed.), Syst. Veg., ed. 14.: 984 (1784)
Rhapis flabelliformis L'Hér. in W.Aiton, Hortus Kew. 3: 473 (1789)
Trachycarpus excelsus (Thunb.) H.Wendl. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 8: 429 (1861)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Chamaerops excelsa var. gracilis Carrière in Rev. Hort. (Paris) 47: 220 (1875)
Chamaerops kwanwortsik Siebold ex H.Wendl. in Index Palm.: 34 (1854)
Rhapis aspera W.H.Baxter in J.C.Loudon, Suppl. Loudon's Hort. Brit.: 624 (1850)
Rhapis cordata W.H.Baxter (1850)
Rhapis divaricata Gagnep. in Notul. Syst. (Paris) 6: 158 (1937)
Rhapis flabelliformis var. foliis-variegatis Rothsch. in Pl. Feuill. Col., n.s., 2: 59 (1868)
Rhapis flabelliformis var. variegata B.S.Williams in Choice Stove Orn.-Leav. Pl.: 282 (1870)
Rhapis javanica Blume in Rumphia 2: 56 (1839)
Rhapis kwamwonzick Siebold ex Linden in Ill. Hort. 34: 39 (1887)
Rhapis major Blume (1839)
Trachycarpus excelsus var. fortunei Makino in Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 18: 20 (1904)

PUBLICATIONS

Anh, T.T.P. & Henderson, A. (2017). Thực Vật Chí Việt Nam. Flora of Vietnam 13: 1-414. Nhà xuất bản khoa học và kỹ thuật, Hà Nội.

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Henderson, A. (2009). Palms of Southern Asia: 1-197. Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford.

Henderson, A. (2016). A revision of Rhapis (Arecaceae). Phytotaxa 258: 137-152.

Iwatsuki, K., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (2016). Flora of Japan IVb: 1-335. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.

Mehmud, S., Roy, H. & Borthakur, S.K. (2025). Palms of Assam in the North East Region: 1-78. Scientific Publishers, New Deli-Jodhpur.

Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

VERNACULAR NAME

Afrikaans: Japanese vredespalm
Arabic: نخيل سيدة عريضة الأوراق
Chinese (simplified): 棕竹 - 观音竹
Chinese (traditional): 棕竹 - 觀音棕竹
Czech: Rapis ztepilá
English: Broadleaf lady palm, Little lady palm, Bamboo palm, Ground rattan, Bamboo palm, Lady palm, Miniature fan palm, Fern rhapis
Finnish: Japaninpensaspalmu
Guangdong: 棕竹
Hebrew: דקל גברת רחב עלים
Hong Kong: 棕竹
Indonesian: Palm jari
Japanese: カンノンチク
Korean: 잎이 넓은 레이디 팜
Macao: 棕竹
Portuguese: Ráfia, palmeira-ráfia
Russian: Рапис высокий
Slovak: Prútovnica štíhla
Spanish: Palmera bambú
Taiwan: 棕竹
Thai: จั๋งญี่ปุ่น
Turkish: Salon Palmiyesi

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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