<< Back to Search Results

Borassus aethiopum Mart. [family PALMAE]

Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Burkill, H.M. 1985. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol 4
Names
Borassus aethiopum Mart. [family PALMAE]
Common names
English borassus-palm; elephant-palm; fan-palm; African fan-palm; desert-palm; palmyra-palm (correctly B. flabellifer Linn. of Asia); rhun-palm, black rhun-palm (The Gambia, from Wolof name, Percival); deleb-palm. English agobeam (trade name, Ghana, Nigeria for the split stems, auctt.); corozo (the vegetable ivory, but misapplied: properly Phytelephas spp. of tropical and Central America). French rôtnier (from Wolof name). French noix de corozo (the vegetable ivory; see above); chou-palmiste (the cabbage, generally applied.) SENEGAL: ARABIC (‘Maure’) a kof (JB) BADYARA berembe (JB) BALANTA bas (JB) BANYUN be hon (JB) difundi the male tree (K&A) difundi the male tree (JB) sa hun (JB) sorun at Difangor (JB) torunt the female tree (K&A) torunt the female tree (JB) WOLOF ndar a slender var., small leaves & fruit, hard wood (A Chev. fide JMD) teissanku with large fruits, short stem (A Chev. fide JMD) BEDIK dyσbiσ cabbage (FG&G) ma-fέŋ swollen cotyledonary sheath (FG&G) nya-gεmέ fibre (FG&G) ga-ká fruit cluster (FG&G) ga-kὲs leaf (FG&G) gε-tyεďὲs central leaf (FG&G) DIOLA ékach plumule of the newly germinated seed (JB) sikach BEDIK σ-fσtokóy castanet of the dried kernel (FG&G) ga-nyar a mat of the leaflets (FG&G) бa-nyәl-ir-бapέy the wine (FG&G) бa-nyi the wine (FG&G) SERER sarap nets made of the fibre for catching river-fish (N’diaye) WOLOF kakoi the g
Uses
(cabbage, mesocarp, germinated seed, radicle, plumule, mesocarp, endosperm) Food: general (trunk, flower-spathe, peduncle, stipe) Drink: water/sap (trunk, flower-spathe, peduncle, stipe) Drink: alcoholic, stimulant (cabbage, male inflorescence) Medicines: generally healing (root) Medicines: pain-killers (radicle) Medicines: pulmonary troubles (inflorescence, petiole, radicle) Medicines: kidneys, diuretics (radicle) Medicines: genital stimulants/depressants (trunk-bark, radicle) Medicines: lactation stimulants (incl. veterinary) (germinated seed) Medicines: malnutrition, debility (root) Medicines: brain, nervous system (sap) Phytochemistry: starch, sugar (male spathe (cattle), leaf (cattle), fruit (elephant)) Agri-horticulture: fodder (stem, frond, petiole, stipe) Products: building materials (frond) Products: fibre (stem) Products: beehives (male inflorescence, fruit-rind) Products: dyes, stains, inks, tattoos and mordants (trunk) Products: exudations-gums, resins, etc. (stem, petiole, stipe) Products: carpentry and related applications (stem, frond, fibre, mesocarp) Products: farming, forestry, hunting and fishing apparatus (nut-shell) Products: fuel and lighting (stem, frond, nut-shell) Products: household, domestic and personal items (stem, nut, shell) Products: pastimes-carving, musical instruments, games, toys, etc. (stem, frond) Products: containers, food-wrappers Social: religion, superstitions, magic Social: ceremonial Social: sayings, aphorisms
Products
english: Palm, palmyraenglish: Palmyra-palmenglish: Fan-palm, Africanfrench: Rônierenglish: Borassus-palmenglish: African fan-palmportuguese: Palma-do-vinhaenglish: Agobeamenglish: Palm, desertenglish: Fan-palmenglish: Rhun-palmportuguese: Palmeira-do-vinhoenglish: Black rhun-palmenglish: Palm, black rhunenglish: Palm, fanenglish: Desert-palmenglish: Rhun-palm, blackfrench: Noix de corozoenglish: Palm, rhunenglish: Corozoenglish: Deleb-palmfrench: Chou-palmisteenglish: Palm, borassusenglish: Palm, delebenglish: Palm, elephantenglish: Elephant-palm
Description
VarietiesParts of the palmProductsA robust to massive palm, dioecious, trunk ultimately to 20–30 m long by 40–50 cm diameter, swollen at the base to 85 cm, and in old age at about 50 years also swollen above the mid-point to about 80 cm diameter, then nar
References
References:1. Adegoke & al., 1968. 2. Aubréville, 1959: 3: 319. 3. Barter 792, K. 4. Baumer, 1975: 88. 5. Berhaut, 1988: 77–79. 6. Blench, 1985. 7. Bouquet & Debray, 1974: 133. 8. Burtt-Davy & Hoyle, 1937: 88. 9. Busson, 1965: 498, with phytochemical anal
Contributor
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Borassus aethiopum Mart. [family PALMAE]
PDF

Related Materials