Giant palm on Madagascar island

The stunned botanists discovered a giant palm tree in Madagascar that seemed to bloom until death.

The palm has a height of 18m and a canopy diameter of 5m, this is the largest palm tree ever discovered in this island region with this diverse ecosystem and one of the largest flowering plants ever known - even Everyone can see it on the Google Earth map.

Hundreds of tiny flowers bloom from the top of the tree to be pollinated by insects, birds and fruits. When the tree produces fruit, its nutrient source is depleted and the whole tree falls down and dies.

This palm was discovered recently by a French plantation owner who walked with his family. He took pictures of the trees and the photos spread that astounded botanists in Kew Gardens and London. They have never seen anything similar.

DNA analysis shows that they are not a new species but a new palm variety, only three varieties closest to the palm are known and scattered in Saudi Arabia, Thailand and China. This palm variety has never been known in Madagascar. Kew's expert, John Dransfield, said: 'With today's knowledge, it's hard to explain how this species grows in Madagascar.'

Dransfield and colleagues published the results of the research on this palm in the Linnean Society's Botanical Journal. The team assessed that there were fewer than 100 new palm species named on the island. Like many of the flora and fauna on Madagascar, the plant is threatened, only 18% of the island's flora remains intact.

(Photo: John Dransfield, LiveScience)