Did you know that the talipot palm Corypha umbraculifera has the largest branched inflorescence of any plant in the world?

Talipot palm - Corypha umbraculifera

Corypha umbraculifera, the talipot palm, is a species of palm native to eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also grown in Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Thailand and the Andaman Islands. It is a flowering plant with the largest inflorescence in the world. It lives up to 60 years before bearing flowers and fruits. It dies shortly after.

It is one of the largest palms with individual specimens having reached heights of up to 25 m. The plant's single stem is straight and cylindrical, 100 - 130cm in diameter and ringed with prominent leaf scars. The stem is unbranched and is topped by a crown of immense, fan-like leaves. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with large, palmate leaves up to 5 m in diameter, with a petiole up to 4 m, and up to 130 leaflets. One of its huge leaves can shelter more than ten people from the rain!

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