Roaming around Palmyra palm(erol)trees | the childhood memories |
Channel: Abhijith Serigara
Date: 2020-03-26

The palmyra palm has long been one of the most important trees of  India and Cambodia, where it has over 800 uses. The leaves are used for thatching , mats , baskets , fans , hats , umbrellas , and as writing material.
Palmyra palms can live for over 100 years.
Borassus flabellifer - Asian palmyra palm/lontar palm/doub palm (southern Asia from India to Indonesia)

In ancient India and Indonesia, palmyra leaves were used as writing paper, with their parallel veins providing a useful rule. In India, mature leaves of suitable size, shape and texture were chosen and preserved by boiling in salt water with turmeric powder. Once dry enough, the leaf surfaces were polished with pumice, cut to the proper size and a hole was cut in one corner. Each leaf has four pages and a stylus is used to write; the style is cursive and interconnected. Completed leaves are then tied up as sheaves.

The black timber is hard, heavy, and durable and highly valued for construction, especially in structures exposed to water, such as wharves, fences and boats.

Jelly-like seeds of palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) fruit
The tree yields many types of food. The young plants are cooked as a vegetable or roasted and pounded to make meal. The fruits are eaten roasted or raw, as are the young, jelly-like seeds. A sugary sap, called toddy, can be obtained from the young inflorescence, both male and female, and this is fermented to make a beverage called arrack, or concentrated to produce a crude sugar called jaggery/palm sugar. It is called Gula Jawa (Javanese sugar) in Indonesia and is widely used in Javanese cuisine. The roots can be dried to form Odiyal, a hard chewable snack. In addition, the tree sap is taken as a laxative, and medicinal values have been ascribed to other parts of the plant.