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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Next: Boswellia Thurifera
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