Taad or Tal Palm - Palmyra palma Fruit, Sundarbans

From the archive record

Palmyra palm is a native of tropical Africa but cultivated and naturalized throughout India. The palmyra palm is a large tree up to 30m high and the trunk may have a circumference of 1.7m at the base. There may be 25-40 fresh leaves. Their strong, stalks, 1-1.2 m long, are edged with hard spines. In India, it is planted as a windbreak on the plains. It is also used as a natural shelter by birds, bats and wild animals. The flowers are produced in big clusters of long, white string-like inflorences. The coconut-like fruits are three-sided when young, becoming rounded or more or less oval, 12-15 cm wide, and capped at the base with overlapping sepals. When the fruit is very young, this kernel is hollow, soft as jelly, and translucent like ice, and is accompanied by a watery liquid, sweetish a