''Bentinckia condapanna'', the hill areca nut, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Arecaceae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

. It is found only in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. This palm is mainly found in the evergreen forests of Western Ghats of India.

Description

It is a

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

tree. It grows generally on the steep rocky slopes and cliffs in the rainforests of the southern Western Ghats. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

to this region. It is found mainly at an altitude of 1000–1800 msl. This palm grows up to 10m tall with the girth of about 15 cm. Flowers and nuts can be seen throughout the year. Although it is restricted to certain isolated regions, it is common in few places within its distributional range. Its

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

is eaten by the local tribal people.

References

External links

*http://www.biotik.org/india/species/b/bentcond/bentcond_en.html *http://www.lundkvistpalmgarden.com/Bentinckia.html condapanna Flora of Kerala Flora of Tamil Nadu Vulnerable plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Areceae-stub