Medemia argun Württemb. ex H.Wendl.

Argun palm (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Arecales > Arecaceae > Medemia

Characteristics

A solitary palm. The trunk is bare. It grows 10 m high. The trunk is 30 cm across. The stems of younger plants are covered with old leaf bases. Older trees have closely placed leaf scars. The leaf crown is dense and round. There are usually dead leaves at the base of the crown. The leaf stalks are bright yellow. These are 1 m long. The leaf stalks have black teeth when young. The leaves are rounded with leaflets like fingers on a hand. They are blue-green. The leaves are 1.3-1.6 m across. The leaf segments are stiff and rigid. They are widely sword shaped. They have long tapering tips. The seeds are the size and shape of plums. They are egg shaped and 5 cm long. They are dark purple to black when ripe. They have red stripes inside. The fruit are edible.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality -
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.3
Mature height (meter) 10.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. Its natural location is the deserts of Sudan. It needs warm to hot conditions and a minimum of water. The lower portions of the trunk are often covered with wind blown sand. It can grow in arid places.
More
Desert oases.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

The unripe seeds are buried and they produce a flour with a taste like coconuts.
Uses environmental use food material social use
Edible fruits seeds
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

The large oval seeds germinate quickly and put down a long sinker root.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -2
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Medemia argun unspecified picture

Distribution

Medemia argun world distribution map, present in Egypt and Sudan

Conservation status

Medemia argun threat status: Vulnerable

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:668220-1
WFO ID wfo-0000239121
COL ID 3YMWR
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Hyphaene argun Areca passalacquae Medemia abiadensis Medemia argun