Corypha or the gebang palm, buri palm or talipot palm is a genus of palms (family Arecaceae), native to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and northeastern Australia (Cape York Peninsula, Queensland). They are fan palms (subfamily Coryphoideae), and the leaves have a long petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets.

Corypha
Corypha umbraculifera painting (1913)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Corypheae
Genus: Corypha
L.
Synonyms[1]
  • Bessia Raf.
  • Codda-Pana Adans. nom. illeg.
  • Dendrema Raf.
  • Gembanga Blume
  • Taliera Mart.

All are large palms with leaves ranging from 2–5 metres in length. They reach heights of 20–40 m and with a trunk diameter of up to 1-2.5 m. All the species are monocarpic and die after flowering. The genus is relatively slow growing and can take many years to form a trunk.

Species include:[2]

Flower Name Common name Distribution
Corypha lecomtei Becc. ex Lecomte Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
Corypha microclada Becc. Philippines
Corypha taliera Roxb. India: West Bengal, Bangladesh, Myanmar
Corypha umbraculifera L. Talipot palm Sri Lanka, southern India; naturalized in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Andaman Islands, Mauritius
Corypha utan Lam.(syn. C. elata, C. gebang) Gebang palm, buri palm or cabbage palm India: Assam, Andaman Islands, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Australia: Queensland, Northern Territory
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Uses

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In the Philippines, buri trees, like the sago palm, are used as sources of starch made into starch balls called landang. These are traditionally cooked into various desserts and dishes, most notably the binignit.[3]

The leaves are often used for thatching or can be woven into baskets, etc. Three kinds of fibres, namely buri (unopened leaf fibers), raffia (mature leaf fibers), and buntal (leaf petiole fiber), may be obtained from the plant. The midrib of the leaves are also used for weaving hats in the Philippines known as calasiao hats.[4] The Buntal Hat Festival is celebrated in Baliuag, Bulacan yearly every 6th of May.[5][6]

References

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  1. ^ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families". Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  2. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  3. ^ Cabello, Nathan (31 March 2015). "Cebuano Binignit". The Freeman. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  4. ^ Pickard, Edward T. (21 October 1929). "Philippine Production and Foreign Trade in Hats". Commerce Reports (40): 154–156.
  5. ^ Philippine Travel Blog: Buntal Hat festival launched in Baliuag Bulacan Archived 2012-12-26 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ The Philippine Star: Baliuag celebrates buntal weaving
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