''Nenga'' 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 ...
genus of
flowering plant in the
palm family. It is native to
Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. ''N. gajah'' is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfoliar inflorescence, a combination of traits seen in a few species of the closely related ''
Pinanga
''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 ''
Areca'' palms.
[Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) ''Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore''. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. / ] The genus name is based on a corruption of a
Javanese term for a plant now classified within ''Pinanga''.
Description
Their trunks may be clustering or solitary from 5 to 15 cm wide, rarely exceeding 5 m in height. The stems are ringed by distinct leaf scars and frequently supported by stilt
roots. A distinct
crownshaft is present in all but ''N. gajah'', the
petioles are well developed and bear pinnate
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
up to 2 m long. The leaflets are closely to widely spaced, regularly arranged, with one to several folds. They may be acute to acuminate, S-shaped to linear, the terminal pair usually obscurely lobed corresponding to the fold count; reaching 90 cm, they are usually deep green with a lighter underside. The rachis, petiole and crownshaft may be lightly to densely covered in hairy, brown tomentum.
The
inflorescence is branched to one order, rarely to two, erect or pendulous, and emerges below the crownshaft in all but ''N. gajah'' which emerges within the leaf crown. The fleshy male and female
flowers share the same branches, proximally arranged in triads and distally in pairs or singles. They produce an obpyriform to ovoid
fruit with a thin, fleshy mesocarp and a fibrous endocarp. Colored red, purple or black the fruit carries one
seed.
[Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Portland: Timber Press. / ]
Distribution and habitat
From southern
Vietnam, peninsular
Malaysia,
Thailand,
Borneo,
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
,
Java,
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> ''Nenga'' palms are purely tropical found in rain forest to 1400 m. ''N. pumila'' is also found in peat swamp forest.
; Species
* ''Nenga banaensis
''Nenga'' is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family. It is native to Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. ''N. gajah'' is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfoliar inflor ...
'' (Magalon) Burret - Vietnam
* ''Nenga gajah
''Nenga'' is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family. It is native to Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. ''N. gajah'' is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfoliar inflor ...
'' J.Dransf - Sabah, Sumatra
* ''Nenga grandiflora
''Nenga'' is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family. It is native to Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. ''N. gajah'' is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfoliar inflor ...
'' Fernando - Johor
* ''Nenga macrocarpa
''Nenga'' is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family. It is native to Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. ''N. gajah'' is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfoliar inflor ...
'' Scort. ex Becc.
Odoardo Beccari (16 November 1843 – 25 October 1920) was an Italian botanist famous for his discoveries in Indonesia, particularly New Guinea, and Australia. He has been called the greatest botanist to ever study Malesia. His author abbrevi ...
- southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia
* ''Nenga pumila
''Nenga'' is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the Arecaceae, palm family. It is native to Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. ''N. gajah'' is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfo ...
'' (Blume) H.Wendl. - southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Sumatra
References
External links
''Nenga'' on NPGS/GRIN
Fairchild Guide to Palms
Fairchild images
GBIF portal
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2711739
Arecinae
Arecaceae genera
Taxa named by Hermann Wendland
Taxa named by Carl Georg Oscar Drude