Borassus flabellifer L.

Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh, West Bengal, and South India) and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra and parts of China.

Description

Borassus flabellifer is a robust tree and can reach a height of 30 metres (98 ft). The trunk is grey, robust and ringed with leaf scars; old leaves remain attached to the trunk for several years before falling cleanly. The leaves are fan-shaped and 3 m (9.8 ft) long, with robust black teeth on the petiole margins. Like all Borassus species, B. flabellifer is dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The male flowers are less than 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long and form semi-circular clusters, which are hidden beneath scale-like bracts within the catkin-like inflorescences. In contrast, the female flowers are golfball-sized and solitary, sitting upon the surface of the inflorescence axis. After pollination, these blooms develop into fleshy fruits 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8 in) wide, each containing 1-3 seeds. The fruits are black to brown with sweet, fibrous pulp and each seed is enclosed within a woody endocarp. Young palmyra seedlings grow slowly, producing only a few leaves each year (establishment phase), but at an as yet undetermined time, they grow rapidly, producing a substantial stem.

Fruit

Fruit

The fruit (palmyra fruit) measures 10 cm (3.9 in) to 18 cm (7.1 in) in diameter, has a black husk, and is borne in clusters. The top portion of the fruit must be cut off to reveal the sweet jelly seed sockets, translucent pale-white, similar to that of the lychee but with a milder flavor and no pit. The sweet jelly seed sockets occur in combinations of two, three or four seeds inside the fruit. The jelly part of the fruit is covered with a thin, yellowish-brown skin. These are known to contain watery fluid inside the fleshy white body. These seed sockets have been the inspiration behind certain sandeshes called jalbhora (জলভরা) found in Bengal. The soft orange-yellow mesocarp pulp of the ripe fruit is sugary, dense and edible, rich in vitamins A and C.[citation needed] They also contain bitter compound called flabelliferrins, which are steroidal saponins.

Borassus flabellifer - Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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