Medicinal palms (Arecaceae) in Madagascar – undocumented or underutilized?

Palms (Arecaceae) are conspicuous in traditional medicine in Africa, contributing to health care of rural and urban dwellers. Palm species richness in Africa is much lower than in either tropical America or tropical Asia, whereas palm species richness in Madagascar is among the highest in the world when its area is taken into consideration. The African continent is 50 times larger than Madagascar, but has only 65 species of palms, whereas Madagascar in a much smaller area has three times as many species of palms. The objective of this survey was to gather all published ethnobotanical data on medicinal uses of palms in Madagascar and to compare this with the extent of palm use in continental Africa. Information on medicinal uses of palms in Madagascar was found in only 13 published references. We found 55 medicinal use records for at least 17 palm species, of which 14 were endemic to Madagascar and three were introduced. The most used palm was Cocos nucifera, followed by Raphia farinifera. For most of the species, however, we found only a single medicinal use. There are many parts of Madagascar yet to be explored for palms. Further studies and collecting trips may generate a more complete picture and suggest answers to why (or if) there are so few medicinal uses of palms in Madagascar compared to other parts of the world.