Hello, I am Fishtail palm

That fishy name comes from my triangular, fish-tail-shaped leaves.

In local parlance I’m referred to as Kithul (किथुल) or kitul. Sometimes people may loosely refer to me as - Bherli Maad / Bherlo Maad / Birlo Maad (भेरली माड / भेरलो माड / बिरलो माड) confusing me with a toddy palm or Palmyra, as I also produce sap.

My sap, fibres, and especially the fruits contain needle-like calcium oxalate crystals. When touched, they can cause intense itching, burning, or rashes on the skin.

For reference, the word Bherli / Bherlo comes from bher / bherpa, meaning to itch, sting, or cause irritation. The name refers to a very practical experience people have had me. :-)

Kithul’s origin is as a Sri Lankan (Sinhala) word used for fishtail palms.

The term comes from everyday use, because I was extremely important for:

Sap (toddy) – boiled for sweetened syrup or fermented to create alcoholic beverages
Jaggery (kithul hakuru)
Starch (kithul flour)

Through ancient trade, migration, and cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean:

The word kithul or kitul travelled to Coastal South India, the Western Ghats, and Goa–Karnataka belt.

That’s why in Konkani, Kannada, Malayalam, you still hear these variants of my name.

My Story

By now, you would have guessed that I’m native to Sri Lanka, India and South East Asia.

I thrive in tropical rainforests and grow up to 20 meters tall. The height advantage makes us proper jungle celebrities.

My botanical genus name is Caryota. There are 14 species within this family.

One of the most spectacular things about me is my flowering.

I’m what humans call “monocarpic” — a big word that means I flower only once in my lifetime.

But oh, when I do, I don’t do it quietly – it is quite a show! I send out flowers from the top downward, floor by floor, like a dramatic farewell tour.

Once my final show is over, I bow out gracefully.

I usually flower only once after 10 to 20 years of growth, sometimes even later – depending on conditions.

So, this is pretty dramatic. Think about it.

Flowering is my only sexual reproduction strategy.

I do not flower repeatedly like mango or coconut.

The special part:

The process of flowering starts from the top of the trunk first.

Over the next 2–5 years, flowering continues progressively downward, node by node.

After the lowest flowers and fruits mature, is when I’m done – I die.

So instead of your typical cycle of: flower to → fruit to → done till next cycle

It’s more like: flower (top) → wait → flower (middle) → wait → flower (bottom) → farewell

This one time flowering produces seeds wrapped in fruit, and those seeds are how my species spreads.

This is a “reproduce once, then die” strategy.

So flowering is not just decoration; it’s my final investment in the next generation.

So, why did my evolution cycle adopt this strategy, you ask?

Well, here’s the reason, this is because it allows:

Massive seed production
High genetic diversity
A strong one-time reproductive push after decades of energy storage

It’s risky — but in stable tropical forests, it has worked well for me.

Talking about risk, come visit me later and we can chat about what’s that big-time risk that you have taken in your lifetime. Hope to see you again by my trunk!

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