Areca palm

Areca nut with a betel leaf – Timorese “bua malus” – is offered to guests, at engagements and during every ceremony.

The areca palm is a slender palm growing 20–30 m tall, with a thin, ringed trunk and a small crown of pinnate leaves. It bears bunches of egg-sized orange fruits, each hiding a hard seed – the areca nut. It is chewed with a betel leaf and lime, which has a mildly stimulating effect and stains the saliva red. Despite its proven harm to oral health, the custom has a thousand-year tradition in South-East Asia and Oceania.

Significance in the country

In Timorese culture bua malus is a sign of hospitality and respect: it is offered to visitors, exchanged when marriages are arranged and used during rituals in the traditional uma lulik sacred houses. Areca palms grow beside almost every village home.

Where it grows

Throughout the country – in home gardens and around villages, from the coastal lowlands to moderate altitudes in the mountains.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl)