Error message
Unable to fetch location details at this time.
Nipa palm (Philippines)
Nypa fruticans
11.5472, 122.537
Field Notes
Description:
Nypa fruticans, known as the attap palm (Singapore), nipa palm (Philippines), and mangrove palm or buah atap (Indonesia), buah nipah (Malaysia), dừa nước (Vietnam), Ging Pol in Sinhala in Sri Lanka and gol pata (Bangladesh), dani (Burma). It is the only palm considered a mangrove in the Mangroves Biome. This species is a monotypic taxon, the only one in the genus Nypa, grows in southern Asia and northern Australia within the Indomalaya ecozone.
Nypa fruticans, the Nipa palm, has a horizontal trunk that grows beneath the ground and only the leaves and flower stalk grow upwards above the surface. Thus, it is an unusual tree, and the leaves can extend up to 9 m (30 ft) in height. The flowers are a globular inflorescence of female flowers at the tip with catkin-like red or yellow male flowers on the lower branches. The flower yields a woody nut, these arranged in a cluster compressed into a ball up to 25 cm (10 in) across on a single stalk. The ripe nuts separate from the ball and are floated away on the tide, occasionally germinating while still water-borne.
Comments (1)