Caryota urens

Toddy palm is a solitary-stemmed, evergreen palm growing up to 20 meters tall. The straight, unbranched stem, which can be 30cm in diameter, is topped by a rosette of large gracefully curved leaves that can each be up to 6 meters long. Since these plants are monocarpic, the completion of the flower and fruiting process results in the death of the tree.
BARK: grey trunk, solitary, annulate, erect, up to 12 m tall, 60-90 cm thick, smooth with prominent annular leaf-scars.
LEAVES: bi-pinnate leaves are triangular in shape, bright to deep green, 3.5 m (11 ft.), not grouped in a terminal crown, but arising successively along the trunk for a good distance below the summit., and held on 60 cm (24 in) long petioles. The obdeltoid pinnae are 30 cm long with a pointed edge and a jagged edge, petiole stout; sheath smooth, margin fibrous.
FLOWERS: 3 m (9.8 ft.) long axillary inflorescences emerge at each leaf node, from top to bottom, producing pendent clusters of white, unisexual flowers. Peduncle curved, thick, enveloped with large bracts, male flowers much larger than the female flowers.
FRUIT: small, matures to a round, 1 cm (0.39 in) drupe, red in color with one seed.

The leaves are used as fishing rod after trimming the branches of the leaf and drying.
Fiber from the leaf bases is used to make brooms, brushes, ropes, baskets etc.
Fiber from the leaf bases is used for stuffing cushions.
A woolly substance, or scurf, scraped from the leaf-stalks is used for caulking boats, used in machine brushes for polishing linen and cotton yarns, for cleaning flax fiber after it is scutched, for brushing velvets, and other similar purposes. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=Caryota+urens
The leaves are used for thatching.
The inferior timber can be used for construction purposes, especially in traditional buildings, for purposes such as planking, flooring, rafters, roofing, partitioning and fencing, and also for making spears.
The stem cut lengthways in half with its center scooped out is used for gutters and drains, or to convey water over long distances. Polished stems are used as monoliths in modern houses.
Medicine: porridge prepared from the seed flour, roots, bark, flowers and seeds. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=Caryota+urens
Edible: the sap extracted from the inflorescence of the plant is used to make sugar and alcoholic beverages, the sap can be further concentrated to give kitul jaggary (candy), sap collected from the inflorescence is fermented with a crude mixed inoculum of yeast to obtain toddy which is used to prepare a more concentrated spirit, a starch obtained from the stems is used to make sago, the very young unfolding leaves and leaf bud are cooked and eaten as a vegetable and the seeds can be used as a masticatory in place of betel nut (Areca catechu. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=Caryota+urens

Caryota urens is a species from the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia where they grow in fields and rainforest clearings. This species is found in the forest understorey and in association with gaps and disturbance (Johnson 1996). Plants are found in moist tropical climates where temperatures never fall below 10 c, the average annual rainfall is 1,500mm or more and the driest month has 25mm or more rain. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil. The palm starts flowering after 8-10 years. Its suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid and very alkaline soils. In Kampala, Caryota urens is found along Windsor close, Yusuf lule road, within Nyonyi gardens, along Nsambya road, Nakasero hill road, Sezibwa road among other places.

The toddy palm is a fast growing feather leaf palm that makes a beautiful addition to the landscape. It is decorated with regularly spaced leaf scar rings.