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Phoenix pusilla
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Family:
ARECACEAE/PALMAE
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Citation: Phoenix pusilla Gaertn., Fruct. 1: 24, t. 9. 1788; Barrow, Kew Bull. 53: 555. 1998.
Phoenix farinifera Roxb., Pl. Corom. 1: 74, t. 74. 1796 & Fl. Ind. 2: 785. 1832; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 426. 1892; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1559(1088). 1931.
Phoenix zeylanica Trimen, J. Bot. Malesia 3: 402, t. 44. 3. 1890; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 425. 1892; Mahabale & Parthasarathy, Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 60: 375. 1963.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Eentha, Chitteenthal
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Small wild date palm
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Description:
Solitary or clustering palm, stem to 6 m high and 30 cm in diameter. Leaves to 3 m long; pseudopetiole to 70 cm long x 1.5 - 3 cm wide at base, rounded abaxillay; leaf sheath fibrous, reddish-brown; leaf bases persistent, vertically orientated on trunk, ca 8 cm wide at base; acanthophylls individually arranged in one or more planes of orientation, ca 7-18 on each side of rachis, yellow-green, very sharp, to 11 cm long; leaflets more or less irregularly arranged, quadrifarious proximally, ca 30-100 on each side of rachis, elongate-spathulate in shape with very sharp, needle-like apices, 10-45 x 0.5-3 cm in length ; leaflet join with rachis marked by yellow-orange pulvinus; lamina concolorous, dark, glossy green, and pliable in texture. Staminate inflorescence erect; prophyll coriaceous, 12-30 x 4-8 cm; peduncle 5-25 cm long; rachillae arranged at wide angle to the rachis, ca 50-70 in number, to 21 cm long. Staminate flowers ovoid, yellow-white; calyx 1-1.5 mm high; petals 4-5 x 2-3 mm ovate, with rounded apices. Pistillate inflorescence erect, arching at fruit maturity; prophyll coriaceous, splitting twice, 17-41 x 2.5-5.5 cm; peduncle to ca 25-75 cm; rachillae 20-120 in number, orange-green, 4-30 cm long. Pistillate flowers mostly in the distal half of rachilla; calyx to 1.2 mm high; petals 2 x 3-4 mm. Fruit ovoid, 11-15 x 5-8 mm, ripening from green to red to purple-black, moderately fleshy, sweet; seed ovoid with rounded apices, pinkish-brown when fresh, drying glossy chestnut-brown, 8-12 x 6 mm; endosperm homogeneous.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
Throughout the year
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District(s):
Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Coastal areas
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Distribution:
South India and Sri Lanka
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Monocotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Veli
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