Nenga grandiflora

Nenga (NEHN-gah) grandiflora (gran-dih-FLOHR-ah)
Gunung Panti, Johor, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Nenga (NEHN-gah) Species: grandiflora (gran-dih-FLOHR-ah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Solitary Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Malaya. Malay Peninsula (Johore). In dense humid forest on steep rocky hillslopes or river

Gunung Panti, Johor, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.

valley bottoms; ca. 180-500 m alt. Endemic.

Description

Solitary, robust palm. Stem ca. 2 m long, 8 cm diam.; internodes to 5 cm, brown. Crownshaft elongate, cylindrical, to 75 cm long, very swollen. Leaves 7-8 in crown, leaf sheath ca. 30-60 cm long, dull green to slightly purplish; petiole ca. 32-54 X 1.6 cm, slightly yellowishorange, rachis angular, rather sharp along the edges. Leaflets to ca. 30 on each side of the rachis, drying light brown; basal leaflets 1-2 costate, ca. 25-42 X 0.81.2 cm, long-acuminate; middle leaflets 34 costate, ca. 40-82 X 5-6.5 cm, longacuminate; terminal leaflet pair 3-6 costate, ca. 30-56 X 3-5.5 cm, acuminate or slightly toothed at tips, the pair sometimes joined to 10 cm at the base along the rachis. Inflorescence infrafoliar, pendulous; prophyll ensiform or lanceolate, ca. 28 X 2.7 cm, drying brown, caducous; peduncle ca. 1.7-4 X 0.8-1.5 cm, flattened, glabrous; peduncular bract triangular, to ca. 5 mm long, 4 mm at the base, membranous; rachillae always 2, ca. 24-30 cm long, 7-1 0 mm thick near the base, glabrous, each rachilla subtended by a membranous, triangular bract to ca. 5 mm long. Staminate flower triangular, trigonous, asymmetric, slightly flexuous; sepals equal or subequal, subulate, acutely and dorsally carinate, flexuous, ca. 1.31.6 cm long, to 3 mm wide; petals elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, acute to acuminate at tips, equal or slightly subequal to the sepals; filaments ca. 2-2.5 mm long; anthers erect, linear, ca. 6-7 mm long, deeply sagittate at the base; pistillode conical, minute. Pistillate flower shorter than the staminate flower; sepals ca. 5-8 X 57 mm, petals as the sepals, slightly smaller, ca. 4-6 X 4-5 mm; ovary broadly ovoid or subglobose, to 3 X 3 mm; stigma distinctly 3-lobed; staminodes of 6 minute teeth. Infructescence pendulous, densely covered with fruits. Fruit ripening deep red then purplish-black, ovoid to obclavate or obpyriform, ca. 3.8-5.4 X 1.52.0 cm, prominently long-beaked and tipped by a stigma 5-7 mm long, the upper half deeply 3-lobed; epicarp drying with longitudinal ridges; seed narrowly ovoid, ca. 2.3 X 1.2 cm, acute to acuminate or shortly spinescent at tip; base truncate, slightly concave intruded. (E.S. Fernando, A Revision of the Genus Nenga. 1983) Editing by edric.

This species is very distinctive in its very large staminate flowers, the consistently 2-branched inflorescence, and the prominently long-beaked, ovoid to obclavate or obpyriform fruit tipped with a distinctly long, 3-lobed stigma. It is most closely related to N. macrocarpa in vegetative features, as well as in the staminate flowers with equal or subequal perianth parts. N. macrocarpa is, however, easily distinguished from N. grandiflora by its inflorescence with often 3-4 rachillae, the much smaller staminate flowers, and the more ellipsoid fruits. Figures 66 and 68a in Whitmore's 'Palms of Malaya' (1973: 80) labelled as N. macrocarpa belong to this new species. (E.S. Fernando, A Revision of the Genus Nenga. 1983)

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b