Everything about Borassus totally explained
Borassus (
Palmyra Palm) is a genus of six species of
fan palms, native to tropical regions of
Africa,
Asia and
New Guinea. They are tall palms, capable of growing up to 30 m high. The
leaves are long, fan-shaped, 2 to 3 m in length. The
flowers are small, in densely clustered spikes, followed by large, brown, roundish fruits.
Species
Cultivation and uses
Palmyra Palms are economically useful, and widely cultivated in tropical regions. The palmyra palm has long been one of the most important trees of
Cambodia and
India, where it's used over 800 different ways. The leaves are used for
thatching,
mats,
baskets,
fans,
hats,
umbrellas, and as
writing material. In
Indonesia the leaves of this plant are formerly used in the ancient culture as papers, known as
lontar and also a Cambodian natural symbols tree that growing around
Angkor Wat.
Khmer call it
Tnaot. The sugar palm can live 100 year or more.
Leaves of suitable size and shape and texture, with sufficient maturity are chosen. The leaves are then seasoned by boiling in salt water with
turmeric powder. This acts as a
preservative.
The leaves are then dried. When they're dry enough, the faces of the leaves are polished with
pumice stone.
Then they're cut in the proper size.
A hole is cut out in one corner. Each leaf will have four pages.
The writing is done with a stylus. The writing is of a very cursive and interconnected style.
The leaves are then tied up as sheaves.
The
stalks are used to make fences and also produce a strong, wiry fiber suitable for cordage and brushes. The black
timber is hard, heavy, and durable and is highly valued for
construction.
The tree also yields many types of food. The young plants are cooked as a
vegetable or roasted and pounded to make meal. The
fruits are eaten roasted or raw, and the young, jellylike seeds are eaten also. A sugary
sap, called
toddy, can be obtained from the young inflorescence either male or female ones. Toddy is fermented to make a beverage called
arrack, or it's concentrated to a crude sugar called jaggery. It is called
Gula Jawa (
Javanese sugar) in
Indonesia and is widely used in the Javanese cuisine. In addition, the tree sap is taken as a
laxative, and medicinal values have been ascribed to other parts of the plant.
This tree has a high respect in Tamil Culture. It is natural, then, to call it a "karpaha" or celestial tree, because all its parts without exception could be used by man.
In Tamil Nadu / Jaffna the seeds are planted and made to germinate and the fleshy stems (below the surface) are boiled and eaten. It is very fibrous and nutricious, known as "Panai Kizhangu" or "Panamkizhangu" in Tamil.
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 "dhavanai" in Tamil. The Palmyra tree is the official tree of Tamil Nadu.
The riped fibrous outer layer of the palm fruits are also boiled / heated in fire and eaten.
When the fruit is tender the kernel inside the hard shell called
Nungu Fruit in Tamil and
Thati Munjalu in Telugu is like a jelly and very delicious as well.
When the crown of the tree is cut we get an edible cake from which the leaves grow out. This is called "Pananchoru" in Tamil.
Gallery of Borassus
Image:Beauty of Bangla1.JPG|Bird nest on Asian palmyra palm
Image:TRUNK I IMG 9026.jpg|TRUNK in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Image:Tree I IMG 1497.jpg|Asian Palmyra Palm in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Image:Leaves & Rufous Treepie I IMG 7800.jpg|Asian Palmyra Palm leaves & rufous treepie in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Image:FRUIT, LEAVES & BAYA's NESTS I IMG 5108.jpg|Asian Palmyra Palm FRUIT, LEAVES & AYA's NESTS in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Image:GntTaatiFruit.jpg|Asian Palmyra Palm fruits of Palmyra at Guntur, India
Image:Séléki-Landscape.JPG|African Palmyra
[[Image:Séléki-Mango.JPG|thumb|240px|African Palmyra Palm
Image:Borassus aethiopum 0018.jpg|African Palmyra Palm
Image:Borassus aethiopum 0012.jpg|African Palmyra Palm fruit
Image:Borassus aethiopum seeds.jpg|Seed of African Palmyra Palm
Image:Borassus aethiopum 0099.jpg|Fruit of African Palmyra Palm
Image:Borassus aethiopum 0049.jpg|African Palmyra Palm
Further Information
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