''Bentinckia nicobarica'' 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 ...

found to occur in the Nicobar group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. It is an endemic palm occurring in

Great Nicobar Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. History The Nicobar Island has been well known to Indian mariners since the time of the seafaring Cholas https://www.britannica.com/place/Nicobar- ...

, Katchal, Nancowry and Car Nicobar 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 The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, previously known as Indian Botanic Garden and the Calcutta Botanic Garden, is situated in Shibpur, Howrah near Kolkata. They are commonly known as the Calcutta Botanical Garden and previ ...

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...

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

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

in India.

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 which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. The palm is believed to have originated in the Philippines, but is widespread in cultivation and is considered naturalized in sou ...

'', ''

Pinanga manii ''Pinanga'' is a genus of flowering plant of the palm family in the subtribe Arecinae. It is native to eastern and southern Asia (India, China, Indo-China, Malesia) across to New Guinea. Species Accepted species: * ''Pinanga acaulis'' Ridl. * ...

'' and ''

Rhopaloblaste augusta ''Rhopaloblaste augusta'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found on the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, part of India.Henderson, A. (2009). Palms of Southern Asia: 1-197. Princeton University press, Princeton an ...

''.

References

External links

Arkive.
nicobarica Flora of the Nicobar Islands Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1875 {{Areceae-stub