Jaggary Palm (Caryota urens)

Family: Arecaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Jaggary Palm, Caryota urens, is a flowering tree up to 12 m tall and 30 cm wide. It has bipinnate green leaves, white unisexual flowers that form into pendent clusters, and red round fruits. It is oftentimes cultivated as an ornamental tree in tropical and sub-tropical climates. The pulp is edible when powdered after sun drying and the leaves when cooked.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves, Shoots, Flowers, Sap/Syrup

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

delicious flavour. — Edible portion: Sap, Starch, Cabbage, Sago, Palm heart.; The sap extracted from the inflorescence of the plant is used to make sugar and alcoholic beverages.; A primary product of the plant in rural communities is the sugar substitute called kitul honey or jaggary obtained from the juice from the flowers (should this read sap?).; This is concentrated in large, wide-mouthed vessels on an open fire to prepare a viscous, golden syrup with a delicious flavour.

Habitat & North American Range

Limestone areas and valley forests at elevations of 370 - 1,500 metres in southern China. An understorey tree in moist lowland and submontane forests. (Zone 9)