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Botany
Small clustering palm. Stems are stout,
roughened with fallen leaf scars, clustered, 2 to 3 meters high, 5 to
10 cm in diameter. Leaves are about 1 meter across, glossy and fan-shaped,
deeply divided 9- to 13-partite and horizontally spreading with toothed
edges. Flowers are sessile, in 2 or 3 rows, nearly oval in shape. Corolla
is longer than the calyx, divided below the middle in three, broad,
lanceolate segments. Fruit is ovocvoid, 5 to 8 mm long, pelicelled by
the calyx tube, red when mature, and one seeded. Seed is ovoid and horseshoe-shaped.
Distribution
In seashores, back of
mangroves in brackish mud. Grows wild in thickets at low altitudes.
Cultivated for ornamental purposes.
Parts used
Bark
Folkloric
u ses
Bark used in combination with other drugs
for treatment of tuberculosis.
Availability
Wildcrafted and ornamental
cultivation. |