Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Borassus flabellifer L. (ARECACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Lontar, Tar, Palmyra Palm, Sea Coconut

Description

Solitary fan palm to 30 m tall, c. 90 cm diameter. The blade 2.5-3 m wide on stout yellowish green 1.8 m long petiole. The species is dioecious (male and female are as separate individuals). The heavy roundish fruits are 15-20 cm diameter. Each fruit with 3 seeds.

Distribution

Widely cultivated. Native in the Indian subcontinent, monsoonal Southeast Asia.

Uses

The lontar is the most important palm in monsoonal Asia where all parts of the palm are used. Formerly the leaves were used for writing material. It is now used mainly as a thatch, young inflorescence tapped for sugar, endosperm edible. The trunk as construction and building material.