Gardening Directory




Borassus Flabelliformis

The Palmyra palm. The parts of this tree are applied to such a multitude of purposes that a poem in the Tamil language, although enumerating eight hundred uses, does not exhaust the catalogue. In old trees the wood becomes hard and is very durable.



The leaves are from 8 to 10 feet long, and are used for thatching houses, making various mattings, bags, etc. They also supply the Hindoo with paper, upon which he writes with a stylus. A most important product called toddy or palm wine is obtained from the flower spikes, which yield a great quantity of juice for four or five months. Palm-toddy is intoxicating, and when distilled yields strong arrack. Very good vinegar is also obtained from it, and large quantities of jaggery or palm sugar are manufactured from the toddy. The fruits are large and have a thick coating of fibrous pulp, which is cooked and eaten or made into jelly. The young palm plants are cultivated for the market, as cabbages are with us, and eaten, either when fresh or after being dried in the sun.





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