Betel Palm Wood

Areca catechu is an evergreen palm about 10–17 m tall with an upright, ringed stem and pinnate leaves clustered at the top; Japanese dictionaries give Malaysia as its place of origin. The Japanese retailer Pascle lists Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, India and Taiwan as sources of the wood it sells.

The Japanese retailer Pascle describes binrōju wood as having no growth rings and a brown ground mottled with blackish-brown and yellowish-white streaks. The Japanese name needs care: the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten notes that in older usage binrōju was confused with birō (Livistona, a fan palm), and that much material called binrōju in the past was actually birō, so the name alone does not prove the species.

The fruit of the palm, called binrōji (areca nut), ripens yellow to red and has been used in Asia as a medicine and a dye; people in the region traditionally chew it mixed with lime and wrapped in a leaf of betel pepper (Piper betle). Its young shoots are eaten. The Japanese retailer Pascle notes that the wood has been used for furniture, tokobashira (alcove posts) and crafts, and was especially valued for walking sticks.

The Japanese retailer Pascle writes that areca nuts carry a meaning of welcoming honoured guests, and that customs of using them as auspicious items when receiving guests and at weddings are found in many parts of Asia.