Salacca wallachiana

Salacca wallichiana is an evergreen palm with very spiny leaves that are 3 - 7 metres long. A creeping and tillering palm that grows in clumps, the creeping, subterranean, unbranched stems can reach 3 - 5 metres long and 20cm in diameter in plants over 100 years old, with an erect terminal leaf-bearing part around 1 metre tall and with many adventitious roots, most abundant towards the tip. Roots can reach a length of 2 metres but do not extend to a great depth.The plants are valued for their edible fruit, mainly in Thailand, and are also harvested as a source of construction materials. Superior fruit-bearing forms have been developed and these are often cultivated in gardens and plantation.