Doub palm

Appearance

''Borassus flabellifer'' is a robust tree and can reach a height of 30 metres . The trunk is grey, robust and ringed with leaf scars; old leaves remain attached to the trunk for several years before falling cleanly. The leaves are fan-shaped and 3 m long, with robust black teeth on the petiole margins. Like all ''Borassus'' species, ''B. flabellifer'' is dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The male flowers are less than 1 cm long and form semi-circular clusters, which are hidden beneath scale-like bracts within the catkin-like inflorescences. In contrast, the female flowers are golfball-sized and solitary, sitting upon the surface of the inflorescence axis. After pollination, these blooms develop into fleshy fruits 15–25 cm wide, each containing 1-3 seeds. The fruits are black to brown with sweet, fibrous pulp and each seed is enclosed within a woody endocarp. Young palmyra seedlings grow slowly, producing only a few leaves each year , but at an as yet undetermined time, they grow rapidly, producing a substantial stem.

Cultural

*The palmyra tree is the official tree of Tamil Nadu. Highly respected in Tamil culture, it is called "katpaha tharu" because all its parts have a use. Panaiveriyamman, named after ''panai'', the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, is an ancient tree deity related to fertility linked to this palm. This deity is also known as Taalavaasini, a name that further relates her to all types of palms.
⤷ The Asian palmyra palm is a symbol of Cambodia where it is a very common palm, found all over the country. It also grows near the Angkor Wat temple.
⤷ In Indonesia the Palmyra tree is the symbol of South Sulawesi province.
⤷ This plant has captured the imagination of Bengalis, especially in the words of Rabindranth Tagore whose nursery rhyme 'Taal Gaach ek Paye daariye' in Sahaj Path is a staple reading material in most schools in West Bengal & Bangladesh.
⤷  In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', a palmyra tree is the chariot-banner of Bheeshma