335

Borassus flabellifer L.

Synonym	:	Borassus flabelliformis L.
Family	:	Arecaceae
Local name	:	English - Palmyra palm Malyalam - Karimbana
Flowering and fruiting period	:	March-September
Distribution	:	Native of Africa; introduced and cultivated in Indo-Malesia and Australia
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	In dry areas and along bunds in paddy fields
IUCN Status	:	Endangered
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	Leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, and as writing material.
Key Botanical Characters:          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.