The flowering of native plant of southern India and Sri Lanka, the Talipot palm, is truly a once in a lifetime event for the tree, at least. The Talipot palm is monocarpic, meaning it blooms only once, and in this case, at the end of its long life, which can last between 30 and 80 years.
While the Talipot palm can grow to enormous heights during its lifetime, as high as 82 feet (25 meters), it becomes even taller when in bloom. It grows a large stalk at its top, between 20 and 26 feet (6–8 meters) long, which produces smaller branches carrying millions of flowers. The stalk, branches, and flowers of the Talipot palm, known jointly as an inflorescence, is the largest of any plant in the world.
Once the Talipot palm has flowered, it takes a year for the fruit to develop; it eventually produces thousands of round yellow-green fruit, each of which contains a single seed. After the fruit appears, the Talipot palm dies off.