Tahina spectabilis.

This is a fantastic totally New genus and new species of giant new fan palm just recently discovered in Madagascar, only two of these palms flowered and produced seeds, this species is a monocarpic species, which means that once they finish producing their seeds the palm will die, it is estimated to possibly take this species up to 50 to possibly 70 years to flower, so it is not known when seeds will ever be available of this species again, lucky seeds from this second palm were distributed around the world to botanical collections and a quite few larger nurseries and collectors.

This species is best suited to the tropics but seems to be growing quite well in the subtropics and in cooler conditions although somewhat slower.

As this species grows so large you will need a large garden to grow this species, in habitat the area they come from does have a good dry season, so this species might also be drought tolerate, but in the wet season this area can be flooded although the palms are not sitting in water they are growing in and around some large limestone outcrops, but they would be certainly tapping in to this ground water at this time of year. I would recommend when planting this species to add plenty of mulch around these quite thickly, and fertilizer once a year in the warmer months.

We have a limited amount of these available now!!

Photos taken by Xavier and Bruno leroy