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Nypa fruticans
Nypa fruticans, commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from Malay: nipah) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome. The genus Nypa and the subfamily Nypoideae are monotypic taxa because this species is their only member.
Unlike most palms, the nipa palm's trunk grows beneath the ground; only the leaves and flower stalk grow upwards above the surface. The leaves extend up to 9 metres (30 feet) 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 produces woody nuts arranged in a globular cluster up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) across on a single stalk. The infructescence can weigh as much as 30 kg (4 st 10 lb).
The fruit is globular made of many seed segments, each seed has a fibrous husk covering the endosperm that allows it to float. The stalk droops as the fruits mature. When they reach that stage, the ripe seeds separate from the ball and float away on the tide, occasionally germinating while still water-borne.
N.fruiticans is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome. The exposed internal tissue of old leaf bases provide pathways for air to be exchanged with the submerged roots of the plants, similar in function to pneumatophores of other true mangroves. As the leaves develop, the leaf base hypertrophies and fills with spongey tissue connected with aerenchymous networks in the submerged roots. As leaves senesce, only the rachis is shed while the base is retained, which is impregnated with protective tannins, and can remain alive for up to 4 years.
N. fruticans is pollinated by small insects. Putative pollinators include:
Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are known to eat the fruits of the nipa palm. Proboscis monkeys in the Padas Damit Forest Reserve have been observed eating the inflorescences. Bornean orangutans eat nipa palm hearts and shoots.
Fungal species Tirisporella beccariana has been found on the mangrove palm, as well as Phomatospora nypae on palms in Malaysia.
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Nypa fruticans
Nypa fruticans, commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from Malay: nipah) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome. The genus Nypa and the subfamily Nypoideae are monotypic taxa because this species is their only member.
Unlike most palms, the nipa palm's trunk grows beneath the ground; only the leaves and flower stalk grow upwards above the surface. The leaves extend up to 9 metres (30 feet) 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 produces woody nuts arranged in a globular cluster up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) across on a single stalk. The infructescence can weigh as much as 30 kg (4 st 10 lb).
The fruit is globular made of many seed segments, each seed has a fibrous husk covering the endosperm that allows it to float. The stalk droops as the fruits mature. When they reach that stage, the ripe seeds separate from the ball and float away on the tide, occasionally germinating while still water-borne.
N.fruiticans is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome. The exposed internal tissue of old leaf bases provide pathways for air to be exchanged with the submerged roots of the plants, similar in function to pneumatophores of other true mangroves. As the leaves develop, the leaf base hypertrophies and fills with spongey tissue connected with aerenchymous networks in the submerged roots. As leaves senesce, only the rachis is shed while the base is retained, which is impregnated with protective tannins, and can remain alive for up to 4 years.
N. fruticans is pollinated by small insects. Putative pollinators include:
Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are known to eat the fruits of the nipa palm. Proboscis monkeys in the Padas Damit Forest Reserve have been observed eating the inflorescences. Bornean orangutans eat nipa palm hearts and shoots.
Fungal species Tirisporella beccariana has been found on the mangrove palm, as well as Phomatospora nypae on palms in Malaysia.