Do you know which continent is the largest? Asia! And that’s where the areca palm tree is from! To be precise, it’s from South-East Asia. It’s natural habitat is humid tropical forests, such as those found in India, the Philippines, Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries. As a result, these countries are among the main suppliers of areca-based products and raw materials. In fact, India is the largest of them all! With the rise of areca palm plantations, the areca palm tree is also found in increasingly large numbers in South-East Asia. Have you ever visited an areca palm plantation?

7 years- that’s how long it takes for an areca palm tree to mature. But after maturity, it’s the most lucrative tree you could have! The mighty areca palm tree, like any other tree, starts off as a simple sapling. It grows quickly over the years, and as it grows, it sprouts leaves. As it becomes taller, the lower leaves fall, leaving scars on the trunk that give the tree its signature look. It bears fruit in clusters that can be harvested when they’re ripe.  The fruit contains the areca nut that the farmer wants. On average, it takes 7 years to mature and start producing its fruit, and can continue to do so for another 2-3 decades. Very generous, wouldn’t you say?  During this time, it produces enough fruits and leaves to sustain different people that work in the plantation. Did you already know why these trees have scars? Well, you do now!

Plastic has been King for decades. But now it has a challenger- areca! So what is areca? The areca palm is an Asian tree from the tropical forests of South-east Asia. The word areca probably came from the Malayalam word for it, “ataykka”. Ask your Keralite friends if they use the word! It has other names too, like betel palm and areca nut palm. It is known for its thin and tall trunk, topped by the leaves we associate with palm and coconut trees, called fronds. The trunk is marked by the scars of leaves that fell when the tree was shorter. Apparently no one(or nothing) is immune to ageing! The areca palm is a very useful tree, with fruits and leaves that have a variety of uses(which we will discuss later)! This tree is capable of reaching the height of a 9-storey building, though domesticated indoor versions are much shorter. Watch this space to know more about areca palms!