Pinanga dicksonii (Roxb.) Blume (PALMAE)
Common names
Kannada: Kaadu adike.
Malayalam: Kanakamugu.
Description: Unarmed very slender, smooth, green stemmed palm, 5-7 m tall, 3-5 cm in diam., forming clumps by suckers. Leaves 1-1.5 m long; leaflets numerous; sessile, elongate, broadly linear, 30-60 x 1.5 – 2.5 cm praemorse; 5-7 nerved. Spadix from the axils of fallen leaves, refracted, ca 20 cm long. Spathe simple, rigid, compressed. Flowers monoecious. Sepals 3. Petals 3. Male flowers: stamens numerous, 20-30; filaments very short; pistillodes. In female flowers, there are 6 staminodes, and the ovary is 1-loculed with 3 sessile stigmas. The fruit is ellipsoid, measuring 1.5-2 x 0.6-0.8 cm, and appears bluish or purplish. Each fruit contains a solitary, ellipsoid, or ovoid seed.
Flowering & Fruiting: February – July.
Distribution: India: South W. India. Common in evergreen forests of Western Ghats in moist places, up to 1000 m. Endemic.
Uses: The fruits are sometimes used by the poor as a substitute for betel-nut (Areca catechu L.). Dried husk used in flatulence, obstructive diseases of stomach and dropsy.
