The flowering Talipot Palm at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Port of Spain, Trinidad, April 15, 2024. Photo by Janine Mendes-Franco, used with permission. On the southern perimeter of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Port of Spain, Trinidad, a palm tree is blossoming — but it’s not just any ordinary tree. It’s the flowering Talipot Palm (Corypha umbraculifera), known for having the largest inflorescence in the world. A bigger natural cluster of flowers on a stem you’ll never see. Native to eastern and southern India as well as Sri Lanka, it is also called the Century Palm. As such, there is a miscon…