Green fruit of Hyphaene petersiana in picture are ripening below the leaves, clustered on long, brown, arching stalks close to the stem. This is a female tree, the species being dioecious. A mature northern lala palm may bear very many fruit at a time.

H. petersiana male flowers grow in short-lived, short spikes among the leaf bases. Each flower has three overlapping calyx lobes and ovate, outwards curving petals forming a short tube at the flower base around the six stamens.

The larger female flowers are short-stalked, occurring in large, branched sprays. Their sepals are ovate and overlapping, slightly shorter than the petals around the sub-globose ovary.

The long, protruding leaf stalks can be seen among the fruits. Thick, wiry, brown hairs that over time separate from the margins of leaf stalks are conspicuous upon the stems. On the taller stem in picture next to the fruit-bearing one, some straw-coloured leaf remains are visible, hanging down close to the stem (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Wikipedia).