MADAGASCAR 
rare beauty. It seems that this species, in marked 
contrast with the cocoa-nut palm, shuns the sea air. 
The tree, some 50 ft. high, bears from 6 to 8 fronds, 
whose tough stems snap off when dead, about a foot 
and a half from the base. 
The full beauty of this palm reaches its perfection at 
the time of ripening of the fruit. The hanging clusters 
reach a length of 6 feet, and are so heavy that two men 
can scarcely support the weight of a single branch. 
From two to three thousand brown palm-nuts, that look 
as if they were polished, peep out from among the light- 
green fronds. 
The raphia palm is of the greatest value to the natives. 
Rapliia Palm (Raphia madagascariensis). 
