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Eugeissona is a genus of clustering palms from Borneo, Thailand and Malaysia, with six species commonly called bertam or wild Bornean sago. Grow them as tropical, shade-tolerant understorey palms in humid, moist conditions.
Eugeissona is a clustering genus of flowering plant in the palm family native to Borneo, Thailand and Malaysia. The six monoecious species provide a wide range of local uses and are commonly called bertam or wild Bornean sago. The genus is the sole representative of the Eugeissoninae having very few obvious relatives; the hermaphrodite and staminate flowers are also found in Metroxylon, however the other specialized characteristics are unique suggesting an early split and differentiation from other members of the Calameae. Fossilized pollen belonging to these plants has been recovered in the lower and middle Miocene deposits in Sarawak. The name is from two Greek words meaning "good" and "roof", due to their common use in roof thatching.
While not common in cultivation, they are used extensively by locals for a variety of purposes. The sago made from E. utilis trunks forms the staple of the Penan and Punan diet. The seed's endosperm and the pollen are also known to be consumed. The leaves are used in roof construction, various thatchings, and the manufacture of blinds. The stilt roots of some species are made into walking sticks and toys, while the petioles are fashioned into darts for blowgun hunting.
They inhabit a variety of settings including the low-lying heath forests, montane rain forests, and swamps, but are most common on scarp faces, hills and rocky ridgetops up to 1000 m. E. brachystachys and E. tristis are found solely in Malaysia, while the remainder are Bornean or Thai in origin. E. tristis has become an effective pest in the Hill Dipterocarp forest where it colonizes cleared timberland preventing the regeneration of various trees.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eugeissona by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
