Corypha umbraculifera

Talipot palm
Tailpot palm flowering at Kerala
Conservation status

Data Deficient  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Corypha
Species: C. umbraculifera
Binomial name
Corypha umbraculifera
L.
Synonyms[1]
  • Bessia sanguinolenta Raf.
  • Corypha guineensis L.

Corypha umbraculifera, the talipot palm, is a species of palm native to eastern and southern India (Malabar Coast) and Sri Lanka. It is also reportedly naturalized in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and the Andaman Islands.[2]

It is one of the largest palms in the world; individual specimens have reached heights of up to 25 m (82 ft) with stems up to 1.3 m (4.25 ft) in diameter.[3] It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with large, palmate leaves up to 5 m (16 ft) in diameter, with a petiole up to 4 m (13 ft), and up to 130 leaflets. The talipot palm bears the largest inflorescence of any plant, 6-8 m (20-26 ft) 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, from the family Araceae, has the largest unbranched inflorescence, and the species Rafflesia arnoldii has the world's largest single flower). The talipot palm is monocarpic, 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 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6 in) in diameter, each containing a single seed. The plant dies after fruiting.[4][5]

Uses

The talipot palm is cultivated throughout Southeast Asia, north to southern China. Historically, the leaves were written upon in various Southeast Asian cultures using an iron stylus to create palm leaf manuscripts. The leaves are also used for thatching, and the sap is tapped to make palm wine. In Malabar Coast, the palm leaves were used to make traditional umbrellas for agricultural workers and students in rural areas until a few decades ago. The tree is known as kudapana in Malayalam Language, which means "umbrella" palm tree.[6]

The plant is known as "තලා - tala" in Sri Lanka, by local Sinhalese people.

Fruit - stuns fish;
leaves - mats, fans, umbrellas
pith - edible starch, medicinal
seed - beads, buttons.

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List Corypha umbraculifera
  2. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Corypha umbraculifera
  3. ↑ Dominica Botanic Gardens
  4. ↑ Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1938. Sylva Telluriana. Mantis Synopt. New genera and species of trees and shrubs of North America p 13, Bessia sanguinolenta
  5. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1187, Corypha umbraculifera
  6. ↑ FAO reports: tropical palms, palm products, palms with development potential
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