fish tail palm (caryota mitis): info fact sheet, photos

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Fishtail Palm
Caryota mitis
Rabok/Tukas (Malay)

The Fishtail Palm is the only palm with leaves that are subdivided twice. The shape of the leaflets give it its common name.

It also has a unique way of flowering: the first flowering mop-like cluster emerges from the top of a mature palm, subsequent clusters emerge below and so on. When the cluster reaches the ground, the palm dies.

The palm also reproduces from numerous suckers growing from the base. The palm grows commonly in secondary forests.

Mangrove and wetland wildlife at
Sungei Buloh Nature Park

Main features: Reaches 8m tall. Leaves: Irregular bi-pinnate leaves that are fan-shaped and jagged at the tip with many veins, up to 3m long. Flowers: Small, separate male and female flowers. Fruits: Round green turning blackish-red.

Status in Singapore: Common. World distribution: Native to India, Sri Lanka, to Southeast Asia, introduced to many other tropical countries. Classification: Family Arecaceae.

The flowers appear in threes, one female flower in between two male ones. Fruits are roundish which turn purplish when they ripen.

Uses as food: In India, an edible starch is extracted from the stem, and the palm heart eaten. Like other palms, it is also tapped for sap which is made into palm sugar or fermented to make toddy.

Other uses: The fuzz from the young leaves are used as tinder to start a fire. The palm is also used in construction. In India, the leaves are used for thatching or woven into household items, the fibres from the leaf sheath are made into rope, and seeds made into beads. However, the fruit and the whole plant can cause severe itching because they contain minute needle-like crystals.

LINKS

Additions to "A review of animal-mediated seed dispersal of palms" by Scott Zona, Ph.D. Fairchild Tropical Garden: on animal dispersers of palms.
Multipurpose palms you can grow The World’s Best By Franklin W. Martin Edited by Craig Elevitch chapter 6: uses and features.
Tropical Palms in the non-wood forest products on the FAO website (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations): brief list of uses.

REFERENCES

To buy these references & others, visit
Nature's Niche

Ivan Polunin, "Plants and Flowers of Singapore", Times Editions, 1987 (p. 120: description, habitat, distribution, photo).
Wee Yeow Chin, "A Guide to the Wayside Trees of Singapore", Singapore Science Centre, 1989 (p. 50-51: description, habitat, photo).
Science Club, River Valley High School, "A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of Schools in Singapore", Hillview Publications, 1991 (p. 45: description, habits, habitat, photo).

By Ria Tan, 2001