Photo: Daderot / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons

TreeExotic

Traveller's palm

Ravenala madagascariensis

A dramatic, fan-shaped specimen from Madagascar, not a true palm, that gives instant height in full Dubai sun — but its huge leaves shred in open wind and it has no salt tolerance, so it needs a sheltered courtyard.

Mature size3–8 m tall, 3–6 m spreadGrowthModerateSunFull sunWaterHigh

Heat: 4 of 5

Salt: 1 of 5

Drought: 2 of 5

Shade: 2 of 5

Ease of care: 2 of 5

Use in a design Get it looked after

See it planted

In a Dubai garden

Intimate tropical Dubai villa garden vignette: a rattan daybed framed by frangipani and jasmine on a teak deck

Traveller's palm in the Tropical & jungly style

Season

Through the Dubai year

How Traveller's palm behaves through Dubai's seasons, month by month.

JJan

FFeb

MMar

AApr

MMay

JJun

JJul

AAug

SSep

OOct

NNov

DDec

Avg high °C

24°

26°

29°

34°

38°

40°

42°

40°

36°

31°

27°

Best planting window

New paddle-leaf growth in warm months

Mar – May

Occasional white, banana-like flowers on mature plants

Mar – May

Watch for spider mites in dry summer heat

Jun – Aug

Growth slows in the coolest weeks of winter

Best planting window: Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov
Stake young plants until the trunk anchors if the spot has any wind exposure at all.
New paddle-leaf growth in warm months: Mar–May, Sep–Oct
Occasional white, banana-like flowers on mature plants: Mar–May
Watch for spider mites in dry summer heat: Jun–Aug
Growth slows in the coolest weeks of winter: Dec–Feb

Traveller's palm grows steadily through the warmer months, pushing new paddle-leaf growth most actively from March through October when heat and, ideally, consistent moisture are both available. Occasional white, banana-like flowers can appear on mature plants in spring, though they are a minor feature next to the foliage. Growth slows in the coolest weeks of winter, December to February, without any real change in appearance. Through peak summer, watch for spider mites in dry heat and keep an eye on leaf tips for browning, which signals the plant needs more consistent watering than its leaf-base reserves alone can provide.

Meet the plant

Meet the Traveller's palm

Meet the traveller's palm, the plant that turns a sheltered corner into an instant piece of Madagascar. Its paddle-shaped leaves fan out in a single flat plane rather than all around, like an enormous green peacock's tail held still — there is nothing else grown in Dubai that reads quite so graphic or quite so large from a single, relatively young plant.

It carries its own built-in party trick: the cupped base of each leaf stalk gathers rainwater, holding close to a litre in each one, a feature that reportedly helped thirsty travellers in its native Madagascar and gave the plant its name. It is a genuinely functional piece of botany as much as a decorative curiosity, and one worth pointing out to anyone seeing the plant for the first time.

The mood it sets is bold and tropical rather than restrained — a single specimen does more visual work than almost anything else on this list, provided the spot gives it the calm air it needs to keep its leaves intact rather than shredded by wind.

Traveller's palm earns its common name from its silhouette, not its botany: it's a relative of the banana and bird of paradise (family Strelitziaceae), arranged in a single flat, fan-like plane of paddle leaves that can eventually reach several metres across. It's a real, available Dubai nursery plant, not just a resort-garden prop, and in the right spot it grows quickly into the single most dramatic "instant tropical" specimen on this list.

The catch is wind. Its wind tolerance is genuinely low: the huge leaves tear along their veins in any exposed position, which in an open Dubai plot means a constantly tattered look rather than the crisp fan in the reference photos. It also has essentially no tolerance for salty air or salty water, so it needs to sit back from pool splash and away from brackish irrigation.

Give it what it wants — a wind-sheltered courtyard corner, full sun, and steady moisture, since its leaf-base water reserves buffer only short dry spells, not Dubai's long dry summer — and it rewards you with fast growth and real scale. Plan for its eventual size too: it is not a small-courtyard plant once mature.

Its most famous feature is functional as well as decorative: the tightly cupped base of each leaf stalk collects rainwater, reportedly up to around a litre per leaf base, a trait long credited with giving thirsty travellers in Madagascar an emergency water source and the plant its English name. In practice the water collected this way is turbid and stagnant rather than a reliable drinking source, but it remains a genuine, distinctive piece of the plant's biology rather than folklore alone.

Design

Where to use it

SpecimenCourtyard focal pointScreen

This plant lives or dies visually by shelter — choose the most wind-protected spot available, ideally an internal courtyard or a corner boxed in by walls on at least two sides, rather than an open lawn or boundary. It needs full sun and steady, non-saline water, so keep it well back from pool splash and away from brackish irrigation lines. Because it eventually reaches several metres in height and spread, allow genuine clearance from walls and neighbouring planting rather than treating it as a small-courtyard filler. As a single, isolated specimen it becomes the visual focus of the space it's in, so give it room to be seen from more than one angle.

Bird of paradise

A close botanical relative with a similar tropical character but smaller scale, useful as underplanting or a companion near the base of a mature traveller's palm.

Heliconia

Heliconia's bold tropical flowers and broad leaves fill out the ground layer beneath a traveller's palm's high canopy without competing for its wind-sheltered spot.

Elephant ear

Elephant ear's large, dramatic foliage echoes the traveller's palm's scale at a lower level, reinforcing the sheltered courtyard's tropical mood.

Foxtail Palm

A true palm nearby brings genuine wind and salt tolerance the traveller's palm lacks, useful for framing a sheltered planting without extending the same vulnerability further into the garden.

Care guide

How to grow it in Dubai

Watering: Summer: Water deeply several times a week — the leaf bases store some water, but Dubai's summer heat still calls for regular deep watering to stop leaf tips browning.
Winter: Cut back to once or twice a week as growth slows.
Establishment: Water every two to three days for the first two months, and stake the trunk if the spot has any exposure until roots anchor it.
Soil: Rich, well-drained soil; mulch generously and avoid letting it dry out completely, unlike many of the true palms on this list.
Feeding: Feed monthly in the growing season with a balanced fertiliser to support its fast leaf growth.
Pruning: Trim off fully brown or badly shredded leaves at the base; avoid over-pruning healthy green leaves, which the plant needs for its fan shape.
Planting: Choose the most wind-sheltered spot in the garden — an internal courtyard or a corner boxed in by walls — and allow several metres of clearance for its eventual spread.
Pests: Spider mitesScale insectsMealybug

Avoid these

Common mistakes

Planting it in an open lawn or exposed boundary for maximum visual impact — this is exactly where the leaves shred fastest, undoing the dramatic look within a season or two.
Placing it near a pool, especially a saltwater one, or irrigating it with brackish water — it has essentially no salt tolerance and will decline steadily in either situation.
Relying on its leaf-base water reserves instead of regular watering — those reserves buffer only short dry spells, not Dubai's long, dry summer, and the plant still needs consistent irrigation.
Underestimating its mature size when planting close to a wall or boundary — it eventually needs several metres of clearance on all sides, which is easy to overlook when buying a modest young specimen.
Removing shredded leaves too aggressively — some tatter is normal even in a reasonably sheltered spot, and stripping every imperfect leaf can leave the plant with too little canopy to support healthy growth.

Extra notes

Good to know

Despite the name, it is not a true palm — it belongs to the Strelitziaceae family alongside bird of paradise and is more closely related to the banana than to any palm.
Each leaf base forms a natural cup that can hold close to a litre of rainwater, a genuine physiological feature long credited with helping thirsty travellers in Madagascar, though the water collected is turbid and stagnant rather than a reliable drinking source.
Its wind tolerance is among the lowest of any specimen tree commonly planted in the UAE — a genuinely exposed position will keep the leaves permanently tattered regardless of how well it is otherwise cared for.
It has essentially no salt tolerance, making it one of the least coastal-friendly large specimens on this list despite its tropical, beach-resort associations.

Toxicity: Not known to be toxic.

Pros

Unmistakable, fan-shaped silhouette — the single most dramatic specimen on this list
Grows relatively quickly once established, in full Dubai sun
Genuinely available and used in real Dubai villa gardens, not just resort projects
Leaf bases store water, a Madagascar survival trick that buffers short dry spells

Cons

Very low wind tolerance: the huge paddle leaves tear and tatter constantly in an open plot
No tolerance of salty air or salty irrigation water — keep it well away from pool splash
Eventually grows very large, needing a genuinely spacious, sheltered courtyard
Not a true palm despite the name, so it lacks a real palm's wind and salt toughness

FAQ

Common questions

Is traveller's palm actually a palm?

No — despite the name, it's a relative of the banana and bird of paradise (family Strelitziaceae), not a true palm. It shares their love of moisture and dislike of wind rather than a true palm's wind and salt toughness.

Why do the leaves always look torn in Dubai gardens?

Very low wind tolerance is its biggest weakness here — the huge paddle leaves shred along their veins in any exposed spot. A courtyard or walled corner keeps them intact far longer than an open plot.

Can it go near a swimming pool?

Keep it back from the splash zone. It has essentially no tolerance for salty air or salty water, so a chlorinated pool is fine at a distance but a saltwater pool or sea-facing plot is not a good match.

Is it true the leaf bases hold drinking water?

The cupped base of each leaf stalk does collect rainwater, historically up to around a litre per leaf, which is where the common name comes from. In practice the water is turbid and stagnant rather than a dependable emergency water source, but the water-holding trait itself is genuine.

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