Nenga banaensis

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Nenga (NEHN-gah)
banaensis (bah-NEHN-siss)
Nenga banaensis specimen.jpg
Nong Nooch Gardens in Thailand. Photo by Paul Craft.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Nenga (NEHN-gah)
Species:
banaensis (bah-NEHN-siss)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Asia.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Cay cau rung.

Habitat and Distribution

Asia-Tropical: Indo-China - Vietnam. In humid forest
Nenga banaensis, or "cây cau rung" as it's known in central Vietnam. The first botanist is Dr. Andrew Henderson, a palm specialist in the Institute of Systematic Botany of The New York Botanical Garden. The second botanist is Mr. Biu Van Thanh, a doctoral student at the Vietnamese Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) in Hanoi.
on granitic soil. Endemic.

Indo-China.

Description

Solitary, slender palm, with stem to about 3 m long, 3.5 cm in diam. Crownshaft elongate, cylindrical, slightly robust. Leaves spreading in crown; leaf sheath about 15- 20 X 3-4 cm, green; petiole about 20-30 X 1 cm. Leaflets often drying dark greyish-green to greenish-brown; basal leaflets narrow, 1-2 costate, about 23-37 X (0.6) 1.0-2 (2.3) cm, long-acuminate; middle leaflets 2-3 costate, about 30-40 X 2.5-5 cm, long-acuminate; terminal leaflet pair 2-6 costate, about 21-35 X 1.7-5.5 cm, acuminate or slightly toothed at apex. Inflorescence infrafoliar, pendulous; prophyll ensiform or lanceolate, about l.5- 3.5-4.0 cm, caducous; peduncle short, about 1.0-1.5 X 8 mm, flattened, glabrous; peduncular bract triangular or ovate, to about 6 mm long, membranous; rachillae 46, about 5-20 cm long, to 5 mm thick, glabrous, each subtended by a triangular, membranous bract to 2 X 4 mm. Staminate flower triangular, asymmetric; sepals equal or subequal, subulate, dorsally carinate, about 4-7 mm long; petals broadly elliptic, obtuse at tip, equal to sepals; filament short, about 0.5-1.0 mm long, anthers erect to about 1.5 mm long, slightly cordatesagittate at base; pistillode indistinct. Pistillate flower globose to subglobose, slightly shorter than the staminate flower; sepals about 3-5 X 3-4 mm, petals as the sepals, sometimes smaller; ovary subglobose, about 1.5 X 1 mm; stigma obscurely 3-lobed; staminodes indistinct. Infructescence pendulous, the branches often with rather short dead tips. Immature fruit oblongellipsoid, about l0 X 5-6 mm, tipped with a prominent 3-lobed stigma; endocarp apparently smooth. Seed not known. (E.S. Fernando, A Revision of the Genus Nenga. 1983)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

This species is still incompletely known; mature fruits and seeds have never been collected. The specimens representing this species in the herbarium contain only juvenile fruits. The species referred to as N. nannospadix (first described in Pinanga) for the short inflorescence (only 4.5 cm long) fits quite well within the range of variation of N. banaensis. The isotype of N. nannospadix (]. & M. S. Clemens 4398) at Kew has a rachilla reaching approximately 13 cm long, very much longer than as originally described by Burret (1933). Inflorescence length in this species is variable. The holotype of N. banaensis (Magalon s.n.), for example, also has two inflorescences with rachillae reaching only 6-7 cm long. The holotype of N. banaensis was not seen by Burret as he had indicated (Burret 1936a, 1936b). The type specimens of both N. banaensis and N. nannospadix, moreover, were collected from about the same area near Tourane on granitic soil. There is so much overlap in variation between the two taxa that I have no doubt that they are conspecific. (E.S. Fernando, A Revision of the Genus Nenga. 1983)/Palmweb.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b

Comments and Curiosities



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).

E.S. Fernando, A Revision of the Genus Nenga. 1983


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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