Ngafa
Areca mandacanii
Family: Arecaceae
What it is like
A palm. The trunk is 15 m tall. It is 8-10 cm across. The internodes on the trunk are 13-30 cm long. They are dark green and shiny and the scars are white. There are 8 leaves in the crown. The leaves have leaflets along the stalk. The leaf sheath is tube shaped and 90 cm long. The leaves are 200-250 cm long. The fruit are 6-7 cm long by 4.2-4.5 cm wide. They have a disk shaped depression near the tip. The seeds are 2.8 cm long by 2.5 cm wide.
Where it is found
It is a tropical plant. It grows between the swamp forest and the lowland rainforest on the Bird's Head Peninsula in Western New Guinea.
Countries/locations it is found in
Asia, Indonesia, Papua, SE Asia
How it is used for food
Edible parts
Fruit - masticatory