Rhopaloblaste augusta

Syn. Areca augusta

IUCN Red List Near Threatened (NT)

Local name

Nicobar Majestic Palm (English)

Tree type

Evergreen Deciduous

Family: Arecaceae

20m

Indicated uses

Medicinal Edible Ornamental Avenue Other

Flowering & fruiting

Flowering Fruiting

Key characters

Bark

Solitary, straight trunk, 20–30 cm diameter, light brown to gray, with prominent pale leaf-scar rings and a 1.5–2 m waxy green crownshaft.

Leaves

Large pinnate fronds with 2–4 m rachis and 90–100 pairs of narrow, pendulous leaflets arranged in a single plane.

Flower

Dense, branched, infrafoliar inflorescences, 40– 60 cm long, bearing small cream to pale-yellow, unisexual flowers in triads of one female and two males.

Fruit / Seeds

Ellipsoid fruits, 2.2– 2.6 cm long, turning orange-red to bright red when ripe; each contains one brown, ellipsoid seed about 1.5 cm long.

Did you know?

It combines a genus name referring to its club-shaped embryo with augusta, meaning majestic or august.

Distribution

Nicobar Islands.