Australian Native Plants

  Corypha utan (Gebang Palm)


Corypha utan photo
Gebang palm, Corypha utan. From Banyumas, Central Java, Indonesia

Photograph by W.A. Djatmiko (Wie146). Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Corypha utan photo
Corypha utan palms, scattered in hilly savanna near Ayotupas, West Timor, Indonesia

Photograph by Wibowo Djatmiko (Wie146). Some rights reserved.    (view image details)




GEBANG PALM FACTS

distribution map showing range of Corypha utan in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Gebang Palm

Other Names
Cabbage Palm

Description
Gebang Palm is a fan palm growing up to twenty metres tall. The large fan shaped fronds grow to six metres long, and divided into up to a hundred grey green segments. Old frond sheaths remain on the trunk.. The plant produces massive flowering spikes of white or yellow flowers, up to five metres tall. The palm is monocarpic - this means that the whole plant dies after flowering once; however it does not flower until it is about thirty or more years of age. the fruit is green or brownish and up to 30 mm in diameter.

Habitat
found in grassland, riversides, open forest and rainforest

Distribution
Corypha utan is found in India and southern Asia. In Australia it is found in northern parts of Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

Growth Characteristics
Height: 20m
Spread: fronds 4m to 6m



Classification
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Arecales
Family:Arecaceae
Genus:Corypha
Species:utan
Common Name:Gebang Palm