Nice Shots Raman Ji. Here also a picture of complete habit of plant needed.
On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 2:34 PM, raman <raman_arunacha...@yahoo.com> wrote: > 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. Leaves are leathery, gray green, fan-shaped, 1-3 m wide, > folded along the midrib; are divided to the center into 60-80 linear- > lanceolate, 0.6-1.2 m long, marginally spiny segments. 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. The coconut-like fruits are > three-sided when young, becoming rounded or more or less oval, 12-15 cm > wide, and capped at the base with overlapping sepals. When the fruit is > very young, this kernel is hollow, soft as jelly, and translucent like ice, > and is accompanied by a watery liquid, sweetish and potable. The chief > product of the palmyra is the sweet sap (toddy) obtained by tapping the tip > of the inflorescence, as is done with the other sugar palms and, to a > lesser extent, with the coconut. The toddy ferments naturally within a few > hours after sunrise and is locally popular as a beverage. 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. > > Raman > -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964
