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Terry has replied directly to me as follows:<br>
Morita or Morata are the words for the type of thatching depicted.
"Marita" is actually a type of pandanus fruit that is used as a
soup, or sauce for cooking<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Morita or Morata are the words for
the type of thatching depicted.</blockquote><br>
'Marita' is <i>Pandanus conoideus </i>and is eaten. <i>P.
conoideus</i> leaves are not much used for thatch (presumably because it
would damage their productivity), but the more robust pandanus species,
which can get quite big, are. But they are also called generically
'marita' in the foothills. <br><br>
Mihalic 1971 distinguishes 'morata' ["thatch shingles made from sago
palm or nipa palm leaves"] from 'marita' ["the reddish brown
edible fruit of pandanus"]. I think Mihalic is wrong about the sago
(I don't know about nipa). Does anybody know of sago being used for
thatching? I have never been sure about the distinction and the
pronunciation difference are slight. But I have to admit that I
think Terry is right about 'morita' being the term for the thatch.
Do 'marita' and 'morita' come from the same root? Is it just a matter of
pronunciation?<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Dr Bryant Allen<br>
Senior Fellow<br>
Land Management Group<br>
Department of Human Geography<br>
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies<br>
The Australian National University<br>
ACT 0200 Australia<br><br>
ANU CRICOS Provider Number is 00120C<br><br>
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