Caryota urens L.

  

               Scientific Name: Caryota urens L.

Family: Arecaceae

Vernacular name : AnaPana, Chuntappana, Eerumbana, Erimpana

Habit: Tree

Habitat: Shola forests

Distribution: Indo-Malesia

Flowering and Fruiting: January-April

 

Key identification features: Monoecious stout palms; trunk smooth with prominent annular leaf-scars. Leaves bipinnat; leaflets broadly cuneate, fan-shaped. Spadix interfoliar, shortly peduncled, much branched, pendulous; spathes few. Flowers many, in triads with female flower in the middle. Stamens many. Ovary 3-celled, 3-gonous. Fruit globose, reddish purple; seeds plano-convex, subreniform

 

Tribal Consumers: Adiya

 

Uses: Pith of palm gives good quality food. They used to eat pith of the palm to control the pain during delivery. They used the stem to make handle of agricultural equipments like axe.

The powdered pith they called as ‘Pananooru’ used to make snacks.