''Corypha'' (gebang palm, buri palm or talipot palm) is a genus of palms (family Arecaceae), native to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and northeastern Australia (

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

, Queensland). They are

fan palms Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of palms (Arecaceae) in various genera with leaves that are palmately lobed (rather than pinnately compound). Most are members of the subfamily Coryphoideae, though a few ...

(subfamily

Coryphoideae The Coryphoideae is one of five subfamilies in the palm family, Arecaceae. It contains all of the genera with palmate leaves, excepting ''Mauritia'', ''Mauritiella'' and ''Lepidocaryum,'' all of subfamily Calamoideae, tribe Lepidocaryeae, subtrib ...

), and the

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

have a long petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. All are large palms with leaves ranging from 2–5 metres in length. They reach heights of 20–40 m and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-2.5 m. All the species are

monocarpic Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die. The term is derived from Greek (''mono'', "single" + ''karpos'', "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning ar ...

and die after flowering. The genus is relatively slow growing and can take many years to form a trunk. Species include:

Gallery

File:Buntaljfa.JPG, A traditional Filipino buntal hat made from buri palm fiber

Uses

In the Philippines, buri trees, like the

sago palm Sago palm is a common name for several plants which are used to produce a starchy food known as sago. Sago palms may be "true palms" in the family Arecaceae, or cycads with a palm-like appearance. Sago produced from cycads must be detoxified before ...

, are used as sources of starch made into starch balls called landang. These are traditionally cooked into various desserts and dishes, most notably the

binignit Binignit is a Visayan dessert soup from the central Philippines. The dish is traditionally made with glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk with various slices of sabá bananas, taro, ube, and sweet potato, among other ingredients. It is compara ...

. The leaves are often used for thatching or can be woven into baskets, etc. Three kinds of fibres, namely buri (unopened leaf fibers),

raffia Raffia palms (''Raphia'') are a genus of about twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and especially Madagascar, with one species (''R. taedigera'') also occurring in Central and South America. ''R. taedigera'' is the so ...

(mature leaf fibers), and buntal (leaf petiole fiber), may be obtained from the plant. The midrib of the leaves are also used for weaving hats in the Philippines known as

calasiao hat Calasiao, officially the Municipality of Calasiao ( pag, Baley na Calasiao; ilo, Ili ti Calasiao; tgl, Bayan ng Calasiao), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

s. The Buntal Hat Festival is celebrated in

Baliuag, Bulacan Baliwag or Baliuag, officially the City of Baliwag ( fil, Lungsod ng Baliwag), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 168,470 people. Baliuag was founded in 1732 by Augus ...

yearly every 6th of May.The Philippine Star: Baliuag celebrates buntal weaving
/ref>

References

PACSOA: ''Corypha'' index
*Kunth, Karl Sigismun
''Corypha miraguama''
''Nov. Gen.'', 1816, 1, p. 298. Accessed 2012-8-4.
The Old Market Gardens and Nurseries of London — No. 10
(52 MB file from archive.org) ''Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardner'' v. 57, 29 March 1877, p. 238. Accessed 2012-7-31. The Journal records John Fraser as bringing ''Corypha miraguama'' back from Cuba in 1807. See als
Kunth
1816, same location.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1072825 Arecaceae genera Flora of Indomalesia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus