Nipa Palm, Mangrove Palm
Nypa fruticans
Family: Arecaceae
What it is like
Nipa Palm or Nypa fruticans, a native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is an unusual palm tree because its trunk grows beneath the ground and only its leaves and flower stalks grow above the surface. The trunk can reach up to 45 cm in diameter and the leaves can each be up to 6 m long.The inflorescence of this palm is globose and comprised of female flowers at the tip and male flowers at the lower branches. It is edible and also yields sugary sap used mainly to make alcoholic beverages, syrup, sugar, and vinegar. The seed is eaten raw; it is harvested when fruits are immature. Plant parts have medicinal uses and specifically used in traditional medicine to treat toothache, headache, ulcers, and centipede bites. The leaves are used for thatching and making baskets and mats, and considered to be of superior quality than coconut thatch. Nipa palm can be grown from seeds or by dividing off suckers.
Nypa fruticans is an evergreen Shrub growing to 5 m (16ft) by 5 m (16ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Flies. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil and can grow in water.
Height (m): 5
Where it is found
Mangrove swamps, tidal areas in deep mud in swampy coastal lowland areas, growing in water or subject to tidal inundation.
E. Asia - India, Malaysia, Indo-China to northern Australia.
Conservation Status: Status: Least Concern
Countries/locations it is found in
Australia; Bangladesh; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China; Guam; India; Indonesia; Japan; Malaysia; Micronesia, Federated States of; Myanmar; Northern Mariana Islands; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Singapore; Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka; Taiwan, Province of China; Thailand; Viet Nam, Africa, Andamans, Asia, Burma, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Indochina, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pacific, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, SE Asia, Solomon Islands, South America, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, West Africa,
How it is used
Food
Rating: 3
Seed - raw. Harvested when the fruits are immature, the seed has a delicious creamy flavour. The white endosperm of immature seeds is sweet and jelly-like, and is consumed as a snack. The mature seeds are sometimes eaten, but are very hard. A sugary sap is obtained from the inflorescence. It is used mainly to make an alcoholic beverage, but also to make syrup, sugar and vinegar. The inflorescence is cooked in the syrup obtained from the inflorescence to produce an energy-giving sweetmeat.
Sap: usually of trees and usually but not always used as a drink.
Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.
Drink: not including plant saps, tea or coffee substitutes.
Sweetener: includes sugar substitutes.
Medicine
Rating: 2
Various parts of nipa palm are a source of traditional medicines (e.g. juice from young shoots is used against herpes, ash of burned nipa material against toothache and headache). The plant (part not specified) is used as a remedy for the bites of centipedes and as a cure for ulcers.
Mouthwash: Treats problems such as mouth ulcers.
Odontalgic: Treats toothache (temporary measure only) and other problems of the teeth and gums.
Stings: Used in the treatment of stings and insect bites.
Other
Rating: 4
Agroforestry Uses: The plant has been used for erosion control along coastal mudflats. Other Uses The leaves are an excellent material for thatching and basket making. They can also be woven into walls. When used for thatching, the leaflets are stripped from the rachis and formed into a thick fringe (tagon) on a reed. After having been thoroughly dried the thatch is secured to the framework of the roof by lashings of pandanus leaves split up the middle and deprived of their stiff keel. Two men work at a time on each reed, beginning at the eaves and working toward the ridge, which is covered with a sort of braided matting secured in place by pins passing under the ridge-pole and projecting on each side. The leaves are considered to be far superior to and more durable than coconut thatch (Cocos nucifera). The strong leaf stalks have many structural uses. They are also made into arrows. The leaflets and midribs are used for manufacturing of brooms, baskets, mats and sunhats. The leaves may contain up to 10% tannin.
Basketry: Plant used in making baskets and other items such as chairs. Includes plants that are only used as an ornamental addition.
Broom: Used for sweeping the floor etc.
Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.
Roofing: Used to give a waterproof roof to buildings. See also Thatching.
Shelterbelt: Wind resistant plants than can be grown to provide shelter in the garden etc.
Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.
Tannin: An astringent substance obtaied from plants, it is used medicinally, as a dye and mordant, stabilizer in pesticide etc.
Teeth: Plants used to clean and care for the teeth.
Thatching: Used for making thatched roofs.
Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.
Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.
Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.
Staple Crop: Sugar: Perennial sugar crops include sugarcane and compare favorably to annuals.
Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.
Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.
Staple Crop: Sugar: Perennial sugar crops include sugarcane and compare favorably to annuals.
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
How it is grown
A plant of low elevations in the moist tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 23 - 27?c, but can tolerate 20 - 35°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,000 - 2,800mm, but tolerates 1,500 - 3,500mm. Grows best in a sunny position. Plants are only found in tidal mudflats of the moist tropics in the wild, though they have also been successfully cultivated in swampy ground some distance from the sea. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 5.5 - 8.5. Nipa palm is probably the oldest palm species, with evidence to show that it had a pantropical distribution 13 - 63 million years ago. It is considered an advanced palm species, and it has been suggested that it could be related to two genera in the Pandanaceae, Pandanus and Sararanga. The first flowering occurs 3 - 4 years after germination. The plant can be tapped for its sap by the time of the second flowering. Spacing: 36-48 in. (90-120 cm) 4-6 ft. (1.2-1.8 m) 6-8 ft. (1.8-2.4 m) 8-10 ft. (2.4-3 m) 10-12 ft. (3-3.6 m).
Propagating it: Seed - there is little information on germination of this plant. It seems likely that the seed benefits from a period of being immersed in the sea since germinating seeds are often washed up on shore in the areas where it grows. The seed needs to be fresh and also needs to be kept in warm and permanently moist conditions if it is to germinate.
Best place to grow:
Habit: Shrub
Hardiness: 11-12
Growth: Medium
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist, wet, water
Things to keep in mind
Its other names
Local names
Nipa Palm, Mangrove Palm, Chak, Gabna, Golphal, Golpatta, Gulga, Jahk, Nipah, Nipamu, Pardeshi-tadio, Pardeshitadio, Poothada,
Synonyms
Cocos nypa Lour. Nipa fruticans Thunb. Nipa litoralis Blanco