Borassus Flabellifer
Family : Palmeae
Common Name : Palmyra Palm, great fan palm, tala palm, tal-palm, toddy palm
English Name : Palmyra Palm, great fan palm, tala palm, tal-palm, toddy palm
Hindi Name : Taad, Tal, Trinaraaj
Telugu Name : Tadi, Tati
Bengali Name : Taala
Tree Characteristics :
Palmyra palm is a native of tropical Africa but cultivated and naturalized throughout India. The palmyra palm is a large tree up to 30m high and the trunk may have a circumference of 1.7m at the base. There may be 25-40 fresh leaves. Their strong, stalks, 1-1.2 m long, are edged with hard spines. In India, it is planted as a windbreak on the plains. It is also used as a natural shelter by birds, bats and wild animals. The flowers are produced in big clusters of long, white string-like inflorences.
Nursery Practice :
The palmyra is propagated by direct sowing, owing to the difficulty in transplanting the seedlings. Seeds are hammered 7 to 10 cms into the ground during rains. Preatment - Weathering of seeds in pit after soaking them in cowdung and water for a week. Seeds start germinating in one or two months. No. of Seeds per kg is 15 to 20 and the germination Percentage is 80.
Economic Use:
Rubbing the inside of the toddy-collecting receptacle with lime paste prevents fermentation, and thereafter the sap is referred to as sweet toddy, which yields concentrated or crude sugar (gur in India; jaggery in Ceylon); molasses, palm candy, and vinegar.
Palmyra palm jaggery (gur) is much more nutritious than crude cane sugar.
Traditionally, the Indian 'Nadar' community are the people who make their living from this tree using its wood, fruits, sap, stems, petioles and leaves to process a variety of food products, beverages, furniture, building materials, and handicrafts.
