73 



BURI PALM. 



(Corypha elata.) 



Buri (Sp., F.) (Albay, Antique, Batangas, Capiz, Cebu, Iloilo, Ilocos 

 Norte, Leyte, Nueva Ecija, Occidental Negros, Rizal, Sorsogon, 

 Tayabas, Zamboanga) ; buli (Vis.) (Bohol, Cebu, Oriental 

 Negros), (T) (Laguna) ; ebus (Pampanga, Tarlac) ; piet (Panga- 

 sinan, Nueva Ecija) ; silad (Albay) ; silag (II.) (Ilocos Norte 

 (II,), in Pangasinan, Tarlac, Union); taktak, bagatay (Nueva 

 Vizcaya) ; talipot palm (E. in India). 



The buri is one of the largest palms. The trunk attains 

 a height of 20 m. and a diameter of 0.7 m. ; the leaves are 

 up to 3 m. in length; the petioles supporting the leaves 

 are 3 m. long and 20 cm. thick. When the plant reaches 

 maturity, variously estimated from twenty-five to forty 

 years, it gradually drops all its leaves and develops at the 

 top of its trunk a much branching inflorescence often 7 

 m. high. 



The trunk is very erect and spirally ridged. Its wood, 

 however, is too soft to be of any commercial value. 



The full-grown leaf is circular in outline, with its lower 

 one-third to one-half entire, like the palm of the hand, and 

 the upper part cleft into 80 to 100 segments, each from 1.5 

 to 6 cm. wide and appearing like fingers spread apart. 



The petioles supporting the leaves are provided with long, 

 stout, curved spines. Both the margin of the petiole and 

 the spines are black in color. 



The individual flowers of the buri palm are greenish- 

 white in color and only from 5 to 6 mm. in diameter. In 

 spite of their minuteness, they are, nevertheless, perfect 

 flowers with six stamens and with calyx, corolla, and ovary 

 showing plainly a division into three parts. Thousands of 

 these flowers occur on the large, terminal, much-branched, 

 pyramidal inflorescence. The lower branches of this in- 

 florescence may be as much as 3.5 m. long, the upper 

 gradually shorter, the highest about 1 m. long. 



From ten to twelve months after flowering, the fruits are 

 mature. They are from 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter and each 

 contains an extremely hard seed 1.5 cm. in diameter. After 

 fruiting, the palm dies. 



