DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Caryota urens L
Common Name: Elephant’s palm,Sago palm
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Caryota
Species: urens
Malayalam Name: Aanapana, Choondappana
Tamil Name: Koonthal panai or Olathi panai
Plant Description:
Trunk: The trunk is smooth and gray, with prominent leaf scars that are widely spaced.
Leaves: The leaves are bipinnate, triangular, and bright to deep green. They can be up to 3.5 meters long and are held on petioles that are 60 centimeters long.
Inflorescence: The inflorescences are 3 meters long and emerge at each leaf node. They produce clusters of white, unisexual flowers.
Fruit: The fruit is a round, red drupe that is about 1 centimeter in diameter and contains one seed.
USES:
Fibers: The fibers are used to make baskets, brushes, brooms, and ropes.
Sago: The pith can be used to make a nutritious sago.
Toddy: The sap from the inflorescence can be fermented to make toddy, an alcoholic beverage.
Medicine: The flour from the plant can be used to make a porridge to treat migraines, gastric ulcers, and rheumatic swellings.
Sugar: The sap from the palm is used to make jaggery, a type of sugar
Tools: The hard stems of the plant can be used to make tool handles, plows, and mortars
Thatching: The leaves of the C. urens plant can be used to thatch roofs
Brooms and string: The black bristle fibers from the leaf base can be used to make brooms and string
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