Hyphaene coriacea, the lala palm

Hyphaene coriacea or lala palm grows in the north of the Limpopo Valley, as does its often taller relative, H. petersiana that sometimes produces a single stem.

The fruit of H. coriacea are angular, almost cylindrical and narrower at the base, while those of H. petersiana are spherical to slightly ovoid. Both trees have fan-shaped leaves or fronds, the leaflets radiating from one point, the tip of the long stalk.

Phoenix reclinata, the other indigenous palm tree found in this region, has feather-shaped fronds, its leaflets emerging parallel from a rachis (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002).