3270

9: Plants yielding non-seed carbohydrates

Eugeissona Griffith

PALMAE

Major species and synonyms
— Eugeissona insignis Beccari.
— Eugeissona utilis Beccari.

— Eugeissona insignis: Indonesia: jato, kajatao (Kalimantan). Malaysia: pijatau (Sarawak).
— Eugeissona utilis: Wild Bornean sago palm (En). Indonesia, Malaysia: kajatao (Borneo).

Eugeissona is restricted to Peninsular Malaysia (2 species) and Borneo (4 species). Eugeissona insignis and Eugeissona utilis only occur on Borneo; Eugeissona utilis is also semi-cultivated.

Sago from the stems forms the staple food of the nomadic Dayak Punan people of Borneo (especially from Eugeissona utilis) and emergency food for other people. Palm cabbage is used as a vegetable. Leaves provide thatch. Petioles are used in the manufacture of blinds, blowpipe darts and toys, and the pith of the petioles for the occlusions on blowpipe darts. The young endosperm of the seeds, and the pollen are edible. The stilt roots are useful for making walking sticks, umbrella handles and, after splitting, for wickerwork.

Clustering, spiny, hapaxanthic, polygamous palms with stems often supported by stilt roots, and sympodially branching by basal suckers. Leaves pinnate, arranged spirally, with spiny sheath; petiole robust, deeply furrowed, usually densely spiny; leaflets single-fold, numerous, linear to lanceolate. Inflorescence terminal, richly branched, erect, with numerous rachillae each comprising a cupule of 7—11 imbricate, leathery bracts enclosing a single dyad of a staminate and a hermaphroditic flower; the staminate flower opens and sheds long before exsertion of the hermaphroditic flower; petals woody, very large; stamens 21—70. Fruit ovoid, beaked, with very small, not clearly ordered scales, fibrous mesocarp and woody endocarp. Germination remote-ligular.
— Eugeissona insignis: stilt roots 1—3 m long; stem 2—5 m tall, bearing up to 9 spiny leaves which are 10—13 m long; inflorescence 6—10 m tall, flowers 8—9 cm long; fruit about 10 cm long, 6 cm in diameter. It occurs on steep slopes and cliffs of coastal forests near sea-level and in coastal mountains up to 700 m altitude.
— Eugeissona utilis: stilt roots short, numerous; stem up to 9 m tall and 20 cm in diameter; leaves large; inflorescence about 2 m long, flowers slender, up to 8—9 cm long; fruit 10 cm long, 5 cm in diameter. It is associated with poor soils with abundant humus, particularly on scarp faces or sharp ridgetops. Propagation from seed is easy; stems are harvestable 5 years after sowing in good soil (at the onset of flowering). The sago seems to be of a better quality than that of Metroxylon sagu Rottboell.

[6]Beccari, O., 1989. Wanderings in the great forests of Borneo. Translated English version of original Italian edition of 1902. Oxford University Press, Singapore. 424 pp.
[13]Burkill, I.H., 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 Vols. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London, United Kingdom. 2402 pp. (slightly revised reprint, 1966. 2 Vols. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.).
[17]de Beer, J.H. & McDermott, M.J., 1989. The economic value of non-timber forest products in Southeast Asia with emphasis on Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Netherlands Committee for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 174 pp.
[18]Dransfield, J., 1970. Studies in the Malayan palms Eugeissona and Johannesteijsmannia. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
[21]Fisher, J.B., 1989. Non-axillary branching in the palms Eugeissona and Oncosperma (Arecaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 99: 347–363.
[32]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition. 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage/Bandung, the Netherlands/Indonesia. 1660 pp.).
[42]Johnson, D., 1991. Palms for human needs in Asia. Plant utilization and conservation in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) project 3325. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 258 pp.
[83]Tan, K. (Editor), 1977. Sago-76: papers of the First International Sago Symposium. The equatorial swamp as a natural resource. Kuching, Sarawak, 5–7 July 1976. Kemajuan Kanji, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 330 pp.
[85]Uhl, N.W. & Dransfield, J., 1987. Genera Palmarum. The L.H. Bailey Hortorium and the International Palm Society. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas, United States. 610 pp.

L.E. Groen, J.S. Siemonsma & P.C.M. Jansen

Groen, L.E., Siemonsma, J.S. & Jansen, P.C.M., 1996. Eugeissona Griffith. In: Flach, M. & Rumawas, F. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 9: Plants yielding non-seed carbohydrates. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea