Raffia Fiber

The Raffia palms (Raphia) are a genus of twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, especially Madagascar, with one species (R. taedigera) also occurring in Central and South America. They grow up to 16 m tall and are remarkable for their compound pinnate leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom; leaves of R. regalis up to 25.11 m long and 3 m wide are known. The plants are either monocarpic, flowering once and then dying after the seeds are mature, or hapaxanthic, with individual stems dying after fruiting but the root system remaining alive and sending up new stems. This plant holds the world record for "longest leaves" for its leaves that can reach 65 feet long.

Cultivation and Uses of Raffia

Raffia is often used to graft trees

Raffia fibers have many uses, especially in the area of textiles and in construction. In their local environments, they are used for ropes, sticks and supporting beams, and various roof coverings are made out of its fibrous branches and leaves 

 

The membrane on the underside of each individual frond leaf is taken off to create a long thin fiber which can be dyed and woven as a textile into products ranging from hats to shoes to decorative mats. Plain raffia fibres are exported and used as garden ties or as a "natural" string in many countries. Especially when one wishes to graft trees, raffia is used to hold plant parts together as this natural rope has many benefits for this purpose.