CORYPHA, MOUNTAIN PALM, or Umbrella Tree, in botany: A genus of the order of Palmae, belonging to the monœcia class of plants. The corolla is tripetalous; the stamina six, with one pistil; the fruit a monospermous plum. There is only one species, the umbracula, a native of the West Indies, where it is called codda-pana. It rises to a considerable height, and produces at the top many large palmated, plaited leaves, the lobes of which are very long, and are placed regularly round the end of a long spiny footstalk, in a manner representing a large umbrella. The flowers are produced on a branched spadix, from a compound
spatha or sheath; they are hermaphrodite, and each Coryphæa consists of one petal, divided into three oval parts, and contains six awl-shaped stamina, surrounding a short slender style, crowned with a simple stigma. The germin is nearly round, and becomes a large globular fruit of one cell, including a large round stone. These plums having a pleasant flavour are held in esteem by the Indians.