''Bentinckia nicobarica'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. It is a palm native to

Great Nicobar Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. It is part of India, in the Nicobar district within the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. History The Nicobar Island has been ...

, Katchal, Nancowry and

Car Nicobar Car Nicobar ( in Car language) is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands. It is also one of three local administrative divisions of the Indian district of Nicobar, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Annual ra ...

islands. The occurrence of this species in Andaman and Nicobar group of islands other than

Katchal Island Katchal (Hindi: कत्चल, Nicobarese: तिहन्यु, ''Tihnyu'') is one of the Nicobar Islands, India. History Katchal Island was previously known as Tihanyu. Due to the remote location and lack of exposure with the rest of the ...

is yet to be confirmed as natural/escape or by human introduction. It is an endangered species according to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2016 with Red List Category & Criteria as C2a (ver 2.3). Living specimens of this taxon are conserved at the Indian Botanic Garden,

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

, at the Field Gene Bank of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

and in Dhanikhari Experimental Garden cum Arboretum (DEGCA) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Description

''Bentinckia nicobarica'' grows about 20m tall and girth is about 25 cm. The stems are used by the local people in house and fence construction. It is generally seen along with other palm species such as ''

Areca catechu ''Areca catechu'' is a species of palm native to the Philippines cultivated for areca nuts. It was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 1500 BCE due to its use in betel nut chewing. ...

'', '' Pinanga manii'' and '' Rhopaloblaste augusta''.

References

External links

Arkive.
* nicobarica Endemic flora of the Nicobar Islands Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1875 Taxa named by Wilhelm Sulpiz Kurz {{Areceae-stub