Oncosperma tigillarium

Oncosperma tigillarium
Oncosperma tigillarium in Malaysia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Oncosperma
Species: O. tigilarium
Binomial name
Oncosperma tigillarium
(Jack) Ridl.[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Areca tigillaria Jack
  • Keppleria tigillaria (Jack) Meisn.
  • Areca nibung Mart.
  • Areca spinosa Hasselt & Kunth
  • Euterpe filamentosa Kunth
  • Oncosperma filamentosum (Kunth) Blume
  • Oncosperma cambodianum Hance

Oncosperma tigilarium is a species of palm tree in the Arecaceae family.

Description

Oncosperma tigilarium grows to 40 feet in height in dense thickets of up to 50 palm trees. The trunks of the palms are covered with long black spines. Oncosperma tigilarium has finely pinnate leaves, with drooping leaflets.[3][4][5]

Common names

Its common name in Indonesion is nibung meaning thorn, for the long thorns that arise along the length of the trunk of the palm. In parts of the Philippines it is known as anibung in the Hiligaynon language.

Distribution

The species is known from inland, lower salinity waters, near mangrove swamps of Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines in Southeast Asia.[2] It is native to these areas west of the Wallace Line growing at elevations below 150 metres. It is endangered in some areas due to deforestation, and it is invasive to a few tropical islands in the Western Hemisphere where it has been planted as an ornamental.

Habitat and ecology

In Singapore, A cluster of Nibong palms survive near the entrance of the Istana, located at the end of Orchard Road. A plaque at that site states: "As the nibong is a mangrove palm, this site must have once been a mangrove swamp."[6]

References

  1. ↑ Vibe Norup, M; J Dransfield; MW Chase; AS Barfod; WJ Baker (2006). "Homoplasious character combinations and generic delimitations: a case study from the Indo-Pacific arecoid palms (Arecaceae: Areceae)". American Journal of Botany. 93 (7): 1065–1080. doi:10.3732/ajb.93.7.1065.
  2. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ↑ Palm & Cycad Societies of Australia, Oncosperma tigillarium
  4. ↑ Henderson, A. (2009). Palms of Southern Asia: 1-197. Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford.
  5. ↑ Barfod, A.S. & Dransfield, J. (2013). Flora of Thailand 11(3): 323-498. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.
  6. ↑ National Parks Board Singapore (2006). Vascular Plant Life Checklist Pulau Ubin.


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