''Corypha umbraculifera'', the talipot palm, is a species of
palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
** List of Arecaceae genera
**Palm oil
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music ...
native to eastern and southern
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. It is also grown in
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
,
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
,
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
and the
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...
. It is one of the five accepted species in the genus ''Corypha''. It is a flowering plant with the largest
inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
in the world. It lives up to 60 years before bearing flowers and fruits. It dies shortly after.
Description
It is one of the largest palms with individual specimens having reached heights of up to with stems up to in diameter. It is a
fan palm
Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of Arecaceae, palms (Arecaceae) in various Genus, genera with leaves that are palmately lobed (rather than pinnately compound). Most are members of the subfamily Coryphoide ...
(
Arecaceae
The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...
tribe
Corypheae), with large,
palmate
The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...
leaves up to in diameter, with a petiole up to , and up to 130 leaflets.
The talipot palm bears the largest
inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
of any plant, long, consisting of one to several million small flowers borne on a branched stalk that forms at the top of the trunk (the titan arum, ''
Amorphophallus titanum
The titan arum (''Amorphophallus titanum'') is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has a large unbranched inflorescence; a tall single leaf, branched like a tree; and a heavy tuber which enables the plant to produce the inflorescence. ' ...
'', from the family
Araceae
The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...
, has the largest unbranched inflorescence, and the species ''
Rafflesia arnoldii
''Rafflesia arnoldii'', the corpse flower, or giant padma, Its local name is Petimum Sikinlili. It is a species of flowering plant in the parasitic genus '' Rafflesia'' within the family Rafflesiaceae. It is noted for producing the largest in ...
'' has the world's largest single
flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
). The talipot palm is
monocarpic
Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die.
The term is derived from Greek (', "single" + , "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning are '' hapaxanth'' ...
, flowering only once, when it is 30 to 80 years old. It takes about a year for the fruit to mature, producing thousands of round, yellow-green fruit in diameter, each containing a single seed. The plant dies after fruiting.
Distribution
The talipot palm is cultivated in
South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. It is also cultivated in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n countries of
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
,
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
and the
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...
. It is also grown sparsely in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
Uses
Historically, the leaves were written upon in various South Asian and South-East Asian cultures using an iron
stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...
to create
palm leaf manuscript
Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and spread to oth ...
s. In
the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...
, it is locally known as ''buri'' or ''buli''. The leaves are also used for
thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
, and the sap is tapped to make
palm wine
Palm wine, known by several #Names, local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the Borassus, palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and ...
. In
South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
, the palm leaves are used to make umbrellas for agricultural workers. The tree is known as ''kudapana'' (കുടപ്പന) in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
, ''talo'' (, ''ତାଳ'') in
Odia, ''sreetalam'' (''శ్రీతాళం'') in
Telugu and ''kudaipanai'' (''குடைப்பனை'') in
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
, which means ''umbrella palm''. The plant is known as ''tala'' (''තල'') in Sri Lanka, by local Sinhalese people.
In Cambodia, the palm is known as ''tréang'' (it was also known by the French name ''latanier''), and as noted above was extensively used in the past to write religious manuscripts.
In recent times the leaf media has been used by traditional healers and soothsayers. The mature leaves are used to make thatches, mats and hats. The
petioles can be used in the manufacture of canes, arrows and netting needles. At low tide, fishers use the fruit to stupefy fish.
Gallery
Image:Flowering_Talipot_Palm_06.jpg, At Foster Botanical Garden
Foster Botanical Garden, measuring , is one of five public botanical gardens on Oahu. It is located at 50 North Vineyard Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, near Chinatown at the intersection of Nu'uanu Avenue and Vineyard Boulevard. F ...
, Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
File:Talipot palm fruit (Corypha umbraculifera).jpg, Talipot palm fruit
Image:Corypha umbraculifera in Lyon Arboretum.jpg, At Lyon Arboretum, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, U.S.
Image:Fleuraison talipot.JPG, At Jardin Botanique de Deshaies, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
Corypha umbraculifera 1913.jpg, ''Corypha umbraculifera'' painting (1913)
File:Talapat.JPG,
See also
*
Ola leaf
References
PACSOA: ''Corypha umbraculifera''
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q856001
umbraculifera
Data deficient plants
Flora of the Indian subcontinent
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus