PlantFiles: Travelers Palm
Ravenala madagascariensis

If Spaceman_spiff dug up the 'shoots' instead of cutting them off he would solve the problem. They are seedlings, not suckers. I realise this comment comes years after his complaint!

I've several across the rear of my property & although they keep having "babies", they are acting as my privacy fence.

I also have my most favorite, in the center front focal point of my house & I don't know how to trim it as since going through several hurricanes in the last 5 years, the main, center tree has turned a bit from it's east/west fan, many of it's leaves are shredded, is at least 20 ft tall & the trunk is quite skinny. It also has may babies which are in all different directions.

I've also found that cutting anywhere on the stem of a leaf will result in part of next new leaf being cut as well.

This is an awesome and huge palm tree. I have had it for five years (survived the three hurricanes). The tree has several off-shoots which I have kept because of the unique look behind my pool. I think the highest frond is about 30 feet. My concern is that I do not kill the tree by trimming too much.

I have one of these growing in my back yard here in St. Petersburg, Florida (zone 9b), and it is huge after only 3 years. However, I had heard and/or assumed that the reason it's called a "traveler's tree" or "traveler's palm" (although not really a palm) is because the leaves are always oriented in an east-west direction, not because of anything to do with water being stored inside, as mentioned above.

Anyway, it's a great addition to my yard and always receives many comments. It's at least 20 feet tall now, just starting to show its "trunk," and I just noticed two days ago that a flower is emerging, so I may post a photo or two in the next few days.

The only real drawback I consider is that it is constantly trying to "make babies" that shoot up near the base of the trunk. I have seen a couple of these trees around town where the "babies" were allowed to grow, and the tree just became a huge ugly mess, looking more like a giant bush than a tree. Every few days (especially in summer) I cut the shoots off at ground level, so that it will only have the one main plant/trunk, and so it will remain neat, tidy, and symmetrical. I noticed in the photos posted here that none of the large trees seemed to have any shoots coming up near the trunk. I wonder why mine continuously makes so many?

Another slight drawback is that when it's windy (and with the 3 hurricanes that passed by last year, and one already this year, it's windy a lot!), it pretty much shreds the leaves, which is sad because they look so much neater when not wind-shredded. I periodically cut off the oldest leaves because they become so shredded and ugly. But I still love the tree because of its overall symmetry!

It's a very nice plant that I've successfully grown indoors for the last year, but does tend to need a large pot if grown indoors and a room with windows facing the equator (north facing in the southern hemisphere and south facing in the northern).

Recently purchased two of these that were marked down for quick sale (7 gallon containers) that were damaged by the 3 Florida storms. Fronds are pretty damaged, however, one of the plants had a frond that was ready to open/bloom, and the next day after planting it did.

I don't know how to take care of this plant yet, my neighbor, who has various types of banana trees in his yard, said that he would leave the heavily leaning and damaged leaves on the plant; I did remove all the broken fronds.

An interesting monocotyledoneous tree, with a palm like stem that may grow up to 20 m high. It has a rhyzome, of the same type as others of the same family, generating new stems every year. The leaves are huge, looking like banana tree's leaves. The petioles are disposed as a fan, and between them there's a space, where fresh water is stored (when it rains, the water infiltrates in those spaces, filling them with water. You could even drink it). The inflorescence ressembles the one of Heliconia, but green. Inflorescence and flowers aren't really visually important, but may atract birds. When the fruits rippen, lots of interesting blue seeds fall. I don't know how, but the seeds' blue coat seems to produce a certain pigment that could be extracted. Requires a rich organic soil, hot temperatures, full sun and moderate humidity

Flower bracts and leaf sheaths hold rain water useful for emergency drinking, hence the common name. This palm-like tree needs rich, moist, well drained soil and a sunny spot in a hot climate.
Propagate by seeds in the spring or division of suckers at any time.