Anivona

The Essence

"Ravenea madagascariensis — the anivona — is one of about 20 species of Ravenea, a dioecious palm genus confined to Madagascar and the Comoros. Dransfield and Beentje describe it as a very elegant, medium-sized solitary palm: a trunk 5–12 m tall, often thickened at the base into a boss bearing surface roots, carries a crown of 10–26 stiffly erect leaves held like a shuttlecock. A palm of Madagascar's high plateaux, said to characterize the island's montane forest, it grows on steep slopes and hill crests from roughly 50 to 1,700 m, from Manerinerina and Andasibe to Kalambatitra and Midongy, and stands in many protected areas, among them Marojejy, Zahamena, Ranomafana and Andringitra. Odoardo Beccari described the species in 1906; cultivated plants still generally circulate as var. monticola, a variety later sunk by Dransfield and Beentje. The original publication conceals a small mystery: a syntype cited as 'Chevalier s.n.' was really collected by Chapelier, for Chevalier never collected on Madagascar. Locally the hard, flexible outer wood is harvested for house walls and floors. In cultivation the species carried a reputation for cold-hardiness that Southern Californian growers found overstated — many grow well there, but only in zone-10 districts — and because seed so rarely reaches the trade, its ornamental potential remains, in Rare Palm Seeds' judgment, largely unexploited."

When Dransfield and Beentje wrote The Palms of Madagascar (1995) they rated the species 'Rare', its only protected population then being in Mantady. The 2012 IUCN assessment took a brighter view: recorded from 23 locations and numerous protected areas, with a stable population of more than 2,000 mature trees estimated, it was listed as Least Concern, the main threat — forest clearance for shifting agriculture and logging — being judged not significant across so wide a range. The Red List page now carries the annotation that the assessment needs updating.