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.