Talipot

Talipot 

(Corypha umbraculifera), a plant of the family Palmae. The trunk measures approximately 25 m in length and 60–90 cm in diameter. It is crowned by enormous fan-shaped leaves measuring as much as 5 m in diameter, with stalks as much as 2–3 m in length. The flowers grow in apical branched inflorescences measuring more than 6 m in length, sometimes reaching 14 m. The fruit has a fleshy pericarp the size of a cherry. The palm flowers between its 30th and 50th year of life and dies after bearing fruit. It grows in India and Sri Lanka, where it is cultivated for the edible starch from the pulp of the trunk. The leaves are used for roofing and for the manufacture of umbrellas and woven articles. Beads, buttons, and the like are made from the hard seeds.