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noun

Ravenala n. (Bot.) A genus of plants related to the banana. Note: Ravenala Madagascariensis, the principal species, is an unbranched tree with immense oarlike leaves growing alternately from two sides of the stem. The sheathing bases of the leafstalks collect and retain rain water, which flows freely when they are pierced with a knife, whence the plant is called traveler's tree.

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Etymology of 'Ravenala'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Ravenala" Quotes from Famous Books

... this might possibly have been some vegetable production, such as a great frond of the Ravenala (Urania speciosa) cooked to pass as a ruc's quill. (Marco Polo, first edition, ii. 354; second edition, ii. 414.) Mr. Sibree, in his excellent book on Madagascar (The Great African Island, ...

— The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 2 • Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa

... 367. RAVENALA MADAGASCARIENSIS.—This plant is called the Traveler's tree, probably on account of the water which is stored up in the large cup-like sheaths of the leaf-stalks, and which is sought for by travelers to allay their thirst. The broad leaves are used in ...

— Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture • William Saunders