Palmyra Palm

A tall fan palm (Borassus flabellifer) native to South and Southeast Asia and cultivated across India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and neighboring regions for its sap, which is tapped from the flower stalks and either drunk fresh, fermented into a mildly alcoholic beverage called toddy, or boiled down into a raw cane-free sugar known regionally as jaggery or palm sugar. Beyond sugar the tree provides fruit pulp, a starchy root vegetable grown from its germinating seed, timber and fiber from its leaves, making it one of the most multipurpose farmed palms in its range. Cambodia treats the palmyra palm as a national symbol, reflecting its long-standing importance to the rural economy and landscape.