View source for Corypha umbraculifera

{{Short description|Species of palm}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Talipot palm
|image = Corypha umbraculifera-flowering.JPG 
|image_caption = Talipot palm flowering at [[Kerala]], [[India]]
|status = DD
|status_system = IUCN2.3
|status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Johnson, D. |date=1998 |title=''Corypha umbraculifera'' |volume=1998 |page=e.T38494A10118423 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T38494A10118423.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
|genus = Corypha
|species = umbraculifera
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|synonyms = *''Bessia sanguinolenta'' <small>Raf.</small>
*''Corypha guineensis'' <small>L.</small>
|synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-48259|title=The Plant List ''Corypha umbraculifera''}}</ref>
}}

'''''Corypha umbraculifera''''', the '''talipot palm''', is a species of [[Arecaceae|palm]] native to eastern and southern [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. It is also grown in [[Cambodia]], [[Myanmar]], [[Thailand]], [[Mauritius]] and the [[Andaman Islands]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=48259|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804110801/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=48259|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 4, 2018|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=wcsp.science.kew.org}}</ref> It is one of the five accepted species in the genus ''Corypha''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Corypha L. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:328318-2 |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> It is a flowering plant with the largest [[inflorescence]] in the world. It lives up to 60 years before bearing flowers and fruits. It dies shortly after.

==Description==
It is one of the largest palms with individual specimens having reached heights of up to {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} with stems up to {{convert|1.3|m|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.da-academy.org/dagardens_talipot1.html |title=Dominica Botanic Gardens<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218180535/http://www.da-academy.org/dagardens_talipot1.html |archive-date=2007-02-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is a [[List of Arecaceae genera#Tribe Corypheae|fan palm]] ([[Arecaceae]] tribe [[Corypheae]]), with large, [[palmate]] leaves up to {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter, with a petiole up to {{convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on}}, and up to 130 leaflets.

The talipot palm bears the largest [[inflorescence]] of any plant, {{convert|6|-|8|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, consisting of one to several million small flowers borne on a branched stalk that forms at the top of the trunk (the titan arum, ''[[Amorphophallus titanum]]'', from the family [[Araceae]], has the largest unbranched inflorescence, and the species ''[[Rafflesia arnoldii]]'' has the world's largest single [[flower]]). The talipot palm is [[monocarpic]], flowering only once, when it is 30 to 80 years old. It takes about a year for the fruit to mature, producing thousands of round, yellow-green fruit {{convert|3|-|4|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} in diameter, each containing a single seed. The plant dies after fruiting.<ref>Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1938. Sylva Telluriana. Mantis Synopt. New genera and species of trees and shrubs of North America p 13, ''Bessia sanguinolenta''</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13830|title=Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum :exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas...|first1=Carl von|last1=Linné|first2=Lars|last2=Salvius|date=June 26, 1753|publisher=Impensis Laurentii Salvii|volume=2}}</ref>

==Distribution==
The talipot palm is cultivated in [[South India]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. It is also cultivated in [[Southeast Asia]]n countries of [[Cambodia]], [[Myanmar]], [[Thailand]] and the [[Andaman Islands]]. It is also grown sparsely in [[China]].{{cn|date=July 2024}}

==Uses==
Historically, the leaves were written upon in various South Asian and South-East Asian cultures using an iron [[stylus]] to create [[palm leaf manuscript]]s. In [[Philippines|the Philippines]], it is locally known as ''buri'' or ''buli''. The leaves are also used for [[thatching]], and the sap is tapped to make [[palm wine]]. In [[South India]], the palm leaves are used to make umbrellas for agricultural workers. The tree is known as ''kudapana'' (കുടപ്പന) in [[Malayalam]], ''talo'' ({{IPAc-en|t|aː|l|oʊ-}}, ''ତାଳ'') in [[Odia language|Odia]], ''sreetalam'' (''శ్రీతాళం'') in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and ''kudaipanai'' (''குடைப்பனை'') in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], which means ''umbrella palm''.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/talipot-palm-in-full-bloom/article6048187.ece Talipot palm in full bloom], [[FAO]] reports: [http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0451E/X0451e03.htm tropical palms], [http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0451E/X0451e05.htm palm products] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619131038/http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0451e/x0451e05.htm |date=2010-06-19 }}, [http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0451E/X0451e10.htm palms with development potential] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108180428/http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0451e/x0451e10.htm |date=2011-01-08 }}</ref> The plant is known as ''tala'' (''තල'') in Sri Lanka, by local Sinhalese people.

In Cambodia, the palm is known as ''tréang'' (it was also known by the French name ''latanier''), and as noted above was extensively used in the past to write religious manuscripts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pauline Dy Phon |title=Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge |date=2000 |publisher=Imprimerie Olympic |location=Phnom Penh |page=174|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InD2RAAACAAJ|author1-link=Pauline Dy Phon }}</ref> In recent times the leaf media has been used by traditional healers and soothsayers. The mature leaves are used to make thatches, mats and hats. The [[petiole (botany)|petioles]] can be used in the manufacture of canes, arrows and netting needles. At low tide, fishers use the fruit to stupefy fish.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Flowering_Talipot_Palm_06.jpg|At [[Foster Botanical Garden]], [[Honolulu, Hawaii]]
File:Talipot palm fruit (Corypha umbraculifera).jpg|Talipot palm fruit
Image:Corypha umbraculifera in Lyon Arboretum.jpg|At [[Lyon Arboretum]], [[Hawaii]], U.S.
Image:Fleuraison talipot.JPG|At Jardin Botanique de Deshaies, [[Guadeloupe]]
Corypha umbraculifera 1913.jpg|''Corypha umbraculifera'' painting (1913)
File:Talapat.JPG|{{Ill|Talipot fan|th|ตาลปัตร}}
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Ola leaf]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Corypha/umbraculifera.html PACSOA: ''Corypha umbraculifera'']

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Talipot Palm|short=x}}

{{Writing}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q856001}}

[[Category:Corypha|umbraculifera]]
[[Category:Data deficient plants]]
[[Category:Flora of the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]