Borassus flabellifer

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Borassus flabellifer
Fruiting specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Genus:	Borassus
Species:	B. flabellifer
Binomial name
Borassus flabellifer L.
Synonyms[1]
Borassus flabelliformis L. Borassus flabelliformis Roxb. Borassus sundaicus Becc. Borassus tunicatus Lour. Lontarus domestica Gaertn. nom. illeg. Pholidocarpus tunicatus (Lour.) H.Wendl. Thrinax tunicata (Lour.) Rollisson

Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, or ice apple,^[2][3] is a fan palm native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh, East India, and South India) and Southeast Asia.^[4] It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra.^[5][6]

Borassus flabellifer is a robust tree and can reach a height of 30 metres (98 ft). The trunk is grey, robust, and ringed with leaf scars; old leaves remain attached to the trunk for several years before falling cleanly. The leaves are fan-shaped, and 3 m (9.8 ft) long, with robust black teeth on the

Uses

Fruit

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The fruit (palmyra fruit) measures 10 cm (3.9 in) to 18 cm (7.1 in) in diameter, has a black

The conventional way this fruit is eaten is when the outer casing is still unripe while the seeds are eaten as the fruit. But if the entire fruit is left to ripen, the fibrous outer layer of the palm fruits can also be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. When this happens, the fruit takes a purple-blackish hue, and tastes similar to coconut flesh. The skin is also eaten as part of the fruit similar to how mango skins are often consumed along with the fruit. Bengalis have perfected the art of making various sweet dishes with the yellowish viscous fluid substance obtained from a ripe palm fruit. These include mustard oil-fried (alternately sunflower oil-fried) taler bora (তালের বড়া) "palmyra vadas" or mixed with thickened milk to prepare tal-khir (তাল ক্ষীর). Thais also use the fruit to make the steamed fluffy tala palm cake, call “Khanom Tan”.

In northern India, the fruit is known as Taad Gola in

• 
  Preparation of seeds in a road stall (Myanmar)
• 
  Toddy or palm wine collection pot, India
• 
  Edible jelly seeds of palmyra palm, Guntur
• 
  Vendor packing the seeds in a road stall, Visakhapatnam

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Obtaining the sap traditionally involves tapping the top shoots and collecting the dripping juice in hanging earthen pots (in some regions a plastic or bamboo bottle). The juice collected in evening or after fermentation becomes sour, and is called tāḍī (ताडी > "toddy") in

In the Indian states of

The germinated seed's hard shell is also cut open to take out the crunchy kernel, which tastes like a sweeter water chestnut. It is called "Taal-Anti" (তাল আঁটি) in Bengali, "Sachi-Htway" (ဆံချည်ထွေး) in

The white kernel of the ripe palm fruit after being left for a few months is used as an offering in Lakshmi Puja in various parts of Bengal and is also eaten raw.

In Thai cuisine, it is used as an ingredient to a type of curry, called “Kaeng Hua Tan”.

The Borassus flabellifer leaves are used for

All the literature of the old Tamil was written in preserved palm leaves also known as Palm-leaf manuscript. In Tamil Yaedu or Olai chuvadi. Most of the ancient literature in Telugu are written on palm leaves (Tala patra grandhas).

In

The stem of the leaves has thorny edges (called "karukku" in Tamil).

The skin of the stem can be peeled off and be used as rope and also used to weave into cots (நார்க்கட்டில் in Tamil). In some part of Tamil Nadu, a variety of rice flour cake (called "Kozhukattai") is prepared using the leaf.

In the eastern part of India, the leaves are used to make hand fans. In Myanmar, the leaves are used to make hand fans for the Buddhist monks and are called "Yap" (ယပ်).

The

In Cambodia, where the palm is known as thnôt' (Khmer), the roots are dried and smoked to heal nasal complaints.^[13]

Borassus flabellifer has a growth pattern, very large size, and clean habits that make it an attractive

• The palmyra tree is the official tree of
  Tamil culture, it is called "katpaha tharu" ("celestial tree") because all its parts have a use. Panaiveriyamman, named after panai, the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, is an ancient tree deity related to fertility linked to this palm. This deity is also known as Taalavaasini, a name that further relates her to all types of palms.^[14]
• The Asian palmyra palm is a symbol of Cambodia where it is a very common palm, found all over the country. It also grows near the Angkor Wat temple.^[15]
• In Indonesia the Palmyra tree is the symbol of South Sulawesi province.
• This plant has captured the imagination of
  Rabindranth Tagore whose nursery rhyme 'Tal Gach ek Paye dariye' (তাল গাছ এক পায়ে দাড়িয়ে.., literally Palmyra tree standing on a single leg ... ) in Sahaj Path (সহজ পাঠ) is a staple reading material in schools in Bangladesh and West Bengal
  .
• In the
  Bheeshma
  and Balarama.
• In Myanmar, the tree is the symbol of Anyar (အညာ) (the dry zone of Myanmar), and is called "pa-de-thar-pin" (ပဒေသာပင်) meaning the tree from which anything you wish can be taken. There are many poems and traditional sounds related to this tree.
• Sunthorn Phu, Thailand’s eminent bard of the Early Bangkok Era, mentioned the plant in many of his poems.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Borassus flabellifer.

• Shitala