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Borassus flabellifer
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Family:
ARECACEAE/PALMAE
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Citation: Borassus flabellifer L., Sp. Pl. 1187. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 482. 1893; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1562(1090). 1931; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 299. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 426. 1984; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 412. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 828. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 526. 1990; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 491. 1994; Renuka, Palms Kerala 19. 1999; Bayton, Kew Bull. 62: 572. 2007; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 714. 2009.
Borassus flabelliformis Murr. in L., Syst. Veg. (ed. 13) 827. 1774.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Ampana, Karimbana
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Palmyra palm
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Description:
Trees to 40 m; stem obscurely hoped. Leaves simple, palmate, plicately multifid; leaflets 60-80, induplicate, apex acuminate; petiole stout, spinous, base broad, split. Spadices interfoliar, large, dioecious, branched; peduncle sheathed with open spathes. Male flowers small, clustered; bracts scaly, secund, overlapping. Sepals 3, oblong, to 3 mm. Petals 3, obovate-spathulate, to 2 mm. Stamens 6; anthers to 1 mm; pistillodes small, bristly. Female flowers large, globose. Perianth fleshy, accrescent. Sepals reniform, imbricate. Petals smaller, convolute. Ovary globose, entire or 3-or-1-cleft, 3-or 4-celled; ovules basal; stigmas 3, sessile, recurved; staminodes 6-9. Drupes to 13 cm across, globose, yellow when ripe, with 1-3 compressed pyrenes.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-September
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
In dry areas and along bunds in paddy fields
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Distribution:
Native of Africa; introduced and cultivated in Indo-Malesia and Australia
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow, Purple
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Monocotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
Yes
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Nemmara, Cherthala, Pattanakadu
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