| + | '''''Nypa fruticans''''', known as the '''Attap Palm''' ([[Singapore]]), '''Nipa Palm''' ([[Philippines]]), and '''Mangrove Palm''' or '''Nipah palm''' ([[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]]), '''Dừa Nước''' ([[Vietnam]]), '''Gol Pata''' ([[Bangladesh]]), '''Dani''' ([[Burma]]) is the only [[Arecaceae|palm]] considered a [[mangrove]]. This species, the only one in the [[genus]] '''''Nypa''''', grows in southern [[Asia]] and northern [[Australia]]. [[Fossil]] mangrove palm [[pollen]] has been dated to 70 million years ago. Fossilized nuts of ''Nypa'' dating to the [[Eocene|Eocene epoch]] occur in the sandbeds of [[Branksome, Dorset]], and in [[London Clay]] on the [[Isle of Sheppey]], Kent,<ref>[http://www.sheppeyfossils.com/pages/plant_material.htm plant_material<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> testifying to much warmer climatic conditions in the [[British Isles]] at that time. |
| Nipa (native name in Molucca). Palmaceae. One species of palm widespread along tidal rivers and estuaries, Ceylon to the Philippines and Australia, the great leaves much used hi thatching, and the fruit edible. | | Nipa (native name in Molucca). Palmaceae. One species of palm widespread along tidal rivers and estuaries, Ceylon to the Philippines and Australia, the great leaves much used hi thatching, and the fruit edible. |
− | Trunks or rootstocks prostrate, gregarious: Lvs. pinnatisect, 10-30 ft. long, from the ends of the rootstocks; lfts. numerous, rigid, plicate, lanceolate, long-acuminate, 2-3 ft. long: fls. moncecious, in an erect inn. springing from the rootstock; male fls. small, in catkin-like lateral branches of the spadix, stamens 3; female fls. larger, in terminal globose heads, the carpels 3: fr. large and spherical (as large as a man's head), comprised of many carpels or drupes 4-6 in. long. Toddy is extracted from the spadix, and from this product other materials (as sirup, sugar and vinegar) are made. Kernel hard and white, edible. N. fruticans, Wurmb., is a most useful plant in the thatch-making in the Philippines (Figs. 1993, 1994, Vol. III), but it is probably not cult, to any extent. It has been intro. in S. Fla. | + | Trunks or rootstocks prostrate, gregarious: Lvs. pinnatisect, 10-30 ft. long, from the ends of the rootstocks; lfts. numerous, rigid, plicate, lanceolate, long-acuminate, 2-3 ft. long: fls. moncecious, in an erect inn. springing from the rootstock; male fls. small, in catkin-like lateral branches of the spadix, stamens 3; female fls. larger, in terminal globose heads, the carpels 3: fr. large and spherical (as large as a man's head), comprised of many carpels or drupes 4-6 in. long. Toddy is extracted from the spadix, and from this product other materials (as sirup, sugar and vinegar) are made. Kernel hard and white, edible. N. fruticans, Wurmb., is a most useful plant in the thatch-making in the Philippines, but it is probably not cult, to any extent. It has been intro. in S. Fla. |