Raman ji, isn't our Palmyra palm native in India?! Wiki says "*Borassus flabellifer*, the Asian Palmyra palm... is native to South and Southeast Asia...". Mabberley (in his 1997 'The Plant-Book') says its distribution/origin "...India to Burma... What is the source of your information?
Regards Vijayasankar Raman National Center for Natural Products Research University of Mississippi On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 7:11 AM, Balkar Singh <balkara...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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 >
