It has an unusual and spectacular lifecycle; growing to dizzying heights before the stem tip converts into a giant terminal inflorescence and bursts into branches of hundreds of tiny flowers. Each flower is capable of being pollinated and developing into fruit and soon drips with nectar and is surrounded by swarming insects and birds. The nutrient reserves of the palm become completely depleted as soon as it fruits and the entire tree collapses and dies a macabre death.
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Madagascar is home to more than 10,000 plant species and 90% of Madagascar’s plants occur nowhere else in the world. The country has a highly diverse palm flora with over 170 known species, all but six of which are endemic. Scientists predict that there are less than 100 individuals of this palm in Madagascar. Only 18 percent of Madagascar’s native vegetation remains intact and a third of Madagascar’s primary vegetation has disappeared since the 1970s.

Kew botanist Mijoro Rakotoarinivo: “It’s spectacular. It does not flower for maybe 100 years and when it’s like this it can be mistaken for other types of palm. “But then a large shoot, a bit like an asparagus, grows out of the top of the tree and starts to spread. “You get something that looks a bit like a Christmas tree growing out of the top of the palm.” There are thought to be only be 100 of the trees that are believed to be about 80 million years old.