The Traveler’s
Tree is a spectacular tropical tree native to Madagascar that has large,
banana-like leaves which are arranged in a flat plane like a fan. It will grow up
to 30-50′ tall. It grows in moist forests in the wild. It has now been planted
in subtropical and tropical areas around the world, including central and southern
Florida, southern Texas, southern California and Hawaii. This plant features an
unbranched trunk (to 12″ diameter) which is topped by a fan-shaped single
plane of enormous, long-stalked, banana-like, deep green leaves (20-30 per
trunk). Each leaf blade is 5-10′ long by 2-3′ wide and appears at the end of a
thick, grooved leaf stalk (petiole) which is as long or longer than the leaf
blade. Leaf margins are sometimes split as is the case with some bananas. Up to
one quart of rain water will accumulate in the expanded and cupped base of each
leaf stalk, thus giving rise to the common names for this plant which suggests
an emergency drinking water source for travellers in need. Showy 3-petaled
white flowers in cymes rise from boat-shaped spathes in a manner reminiscent of
this plant’s bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia) relative. Flowers bloom in summer
plus sporadically throughout the rest of the year. Flowers are followed by
woody capsules (to 3 1/2″ long) containing edible seeds covered by bright
blue arils. In early years, the trunk of this plant is subterranean (not
visible), with the fan of leaves sitting on the ground. Eventually the trunk
does appear and lengthen, with somewhat attractive leaf scar rings forming on
the trunk surface as the lower leaves drop. Hardy in zones 10-11.
Growing
Instructions for the Traveler’s Tree
1. Remove the blue
fringes from the seeds. 2. The seeds have a hard seed coat that has to be
treated, or scarified, in order for water to enter the seeds so that they can
sprout. To scarify the seeds, nick or sand the seed coat with sandpaper. The
seeds can be sanded with sandpaper, a nail file or an emery board. 3. Soak the
seed in water for 24 hours. 4. The seeds like moist, well-drained soil. Prepare
a mixture of half potting soil and half sand, perlite or vermiculite. Put the
soil in a pot. Water the mixture so that it is moist but not wet. 5. Sow the
seeds ½-1 inch deep. 6. Water the seeds. 7. Place the pots in an area with warm
temperatures in full sun or part shade.
The seeds are slow to germinate and can take 1-2 months to start to
grow. 8. When the seedlings are a few inches tall, they can be transplanted.
Kaden Arabic (verified owner) –
WOW!! Not one dud in the bunch!! Shortly after planting they started growing ! These are really great packet of seeds!!!
Ryan (verified owner) –
I would absolutely recommend this seed to anyone looking to grow veggies this year. I decided to do starts this year and just three days after planting
Nathaniel (verified owner) –
Very healthy seeds! Well worth it.
Julian (verified owner) –
They arrived very fresh and not bruised. They were delicious.
Kai (verified owner) –
Good quality.