BORASSUS 



FLABELLIFER 

 Tari 



THE PALMYRA OR BRAB PALM 



Fibres. 



Basket- ware. 



Braiding 

 Material. 



Trade. 



Writing 

 Material. 



Medicine. 



Timber. 



Cement. 

 Food. 



The Juice 

 or Tari. 



Palm Wine. 



Vinegar. 



Sugar. 



tdri, tanbin, etc., etc. The name " brab," commonly used in Bombay, is 

 derived from the Portuguese brava, " wild palm." 



It is now known that the Talipot Palm of the older writers was not -i-<*i* 

 but Coryplia mn1>rarulifv>-<i. J. jftabellifer is an erect graceful palm, dioecious, 

 with terminal crown of fan-shaped leaves. It is believed not to be indigenous 

 to India, but is now cultivated and run wild throughout the plains of India, 

 Burma and Ceylon. Symonds speaks of the "" Palmyra forests " of Tinnevelly. 

 It is probably a native of Africa, although its present African congener, 

 . i:tiiiiniin. is slightly different. Sadebeck (Die Kulturgew. der Deut. Kolon., 

 313) says that a. flaiteiiifer, uar. mtniotnttn, Mart., does not yield the Piassaba- 

 fibre. Wiesner (Die Rohst. des Pflanzenr., ii., 454-5) details a careful micro- 

 scopical examination of the differences between the fibres of rr/j>iia and 

 itfH-iixKUN. A distinguishing feature of the two palms is the swelling in the 

 upper stem of the African form. A common supposition is that the African 

 plant became extinct owing to the tearing off of the young leaves for fibre, 

 and the same fate was once said to threaten the palm in Ceylon. It grows 

 readily if protected from cattle, etc., and is a valuable tree for checking sand- 

 drift. But E. J. Butler (Agri. Journ. Ind., 1905, i., pt. iv., 304-10) describes 

 a fungal disease that threatens to prove very destructive. 



Properties and Uses. Every part of the Palmyra is turned to account in 

 some way or other, and a Tamil poem enumerates 800 uses of it. There 

 are, for example, five FIBRES : A loose fibre which surrounds the base of the 

 leaf-stalk ; a fibre which may be separated from the leaf-stalk ; a fibre called 

 tar which may be prepared from the interior of the stem ; a fibre or coir 

 derived from the pericarp ; and the fibrous material of the leaves. The 

 leaf-fibre is utilised in the manufacture of the basket-ware of Madras, pro- 

 duced at Pulikat in Chingleput, Kimedi in Ganjam, and Bezwada in Godavari, 

 etc. Fine strips of the leaves specially prepared and dyed are plaited into 

 braids and worked up into fancy boxes in nests, cigar-cases and the like. At 

 Diamond Harbour near Calcutta, hats have for many years been made of this 

 material and sold to the European sailors who visit Calcutta. A recent inquiry 

 into the braiding materials of India revealed the fact that after ofi/i*. 

 for//*/irt. xitm, Piteenijc, and <7<iiof//iie were the most hopeful. [Gf. R.E.P. , 

 Ann. Rept. and Prog., 1897-8, 22.] A few years ago investigations were 

 instituted in India with a view to determining the extent to which the cord- 

 like fibres might be employed in brush-making, as substitutes for the American 

 piassaba fibre and the Ceylon kittul (Cnryotn urvtt*). So far indications 

 have not been obtained of a very great demand for these special Indian fibres. 

 The stem or tar fibre is prepared in some special way by the fishermen so that it 

 becomes pliable and can be plaited into fish-traps. It is neither spun nor twisted, 

 a single thread or fibro- vascular bundle being used ; the method of preparation 

 adopted by the fishermen has not as yet been made public. [See also Brushes and 

 Brush-Making, p. 187, also Caryota urens, p. 286.] The export trade in tal coir 

 (or " Palm Fibre," as it is often called) centres largely in Tuticorin (Ann. Rept. 

 Ind Mus., Gale., 1899-1900, 15). The leaves themselves are found serviceable 

 for fans and in thatching. They were formerly prepared as a writing parchment, 

 being so used by the Dutch Government. In Bengal and elsewhere long strips 

 of the leaf are employed by school-children as washable " slates." 



In MEDICINE the juice of this plant is used as a stimulant and anti-phlegmatic. 

 The root is considered cooling and restorative, as also the gelatinous contents of 

 the unripe seeds. The ash of the spathe is given for enlarged spleen, and the silky 

 substance on the young petioles of the leaves is utilised as a styptic. The TIMBER 

 splits easily but will support a very severe cross-strain, and when old is useful 

 for rafters. It is also hollowed out into water-pipes, channels and gutters, and 

 is made into canoes. It is to some small extent exported and used in making 

 walking-sticks, rulers, umbrella-handles, etc. The juice is used in the preparation 

 of cements. 



By far the most important aspect of the Palmyra palm is as a source of FOOD. 

 On tapping the flower-stalk a juice (ras) is obtained, which is either consumed while 

 fresh as a beverage or allowed to ferment, which it will do after sunrise, thus form- 

 ing an intoxicating liquor (tdri or toddy). If the toddy be distilled the result is palm 

 wine (arak), and by destructive distillation a good quality of vinegar is produced 

 (see p. 1111). The ras is also boiled down into a kind of sugar called gur or jaggery 

 (see p. 928). Small round cakes used formerly and to some extent still pass 

 as currency in Tinnevelly district. \Cf. Yule and Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, 1903, 



170 





