Arecaceae
Areca

Areca mandacanii Heatubun

First published in Palms (1999+) 52: 199 (2008)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is NW. New Guinea. It is a tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Baker, W.J., Barfod, A.S., Cámara-Leret, R., Dowe, J.L., Heatubun, C.D., Petoe, P., Turner, J.H., Zona, S. & Dransfield, J. (2024) Palms of New Guinea. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond. 726 pp.

Morphology General Habit
Moderate, single-stemmed tree palm, ca. 8 leaves in crown
Morphology Stem
Stem up to 15 m tall, 8–10 cm diam. Leaf 2–2.5 m long (including petiole), plumose; crownshaft to 152 × 15 cm; petiole to 6 cm long; ca. 60 leaflets on each side of the rachis, single-fold, linear, irregularly arranged in 13–15 groups, held in several planes, terminal ca. 13–14 leaflets regularly arranged, leaflets somewhat arching
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence ca. 60 cm long, protandrous, laxly branched, mostly branching to 2 (rarely 3) orders; peduncle ca. 5 cm long; rachillae 37–50 cm long, numerous; triads distichously arranged, only one complete triad occurring at very base of each rachilla
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male flower 4.5 × 2.5 mm, stamens 6 Female flower 10–13 mm diam. Fruit 65–70 × 42–45 mm, ellipsoid, with conspicuous, woody, shallow, disc-shaped depression at apex; mesocarp fibrous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed ca. 28 × 25 mm, subglobose.
Distribution
One known locality in the Bird’s Head Peninsula, Indonesian New Guinea.
Ecology
Forest transition between swamp forest and lowland forest in areas temporarily flooded at ca. 10 m elevation.
Vernacular
Ngafa (Sayal).
Conservation
Critically Endangered. The only known site of Areca mandacanii is used heavily by local people. Deforestation due to oil palm plantation and logging concessions is a major threat in the region.
Note
The plumose leaves are unique in Areca. It is most similar to A. catechu, but the inflorescence of A. mandacanii is more slender and laxly branched to 2 (rarely 3) orders, as opposed to congested or crowded and branched mostly to 3 orders in A. catechu.
[PONG]

Uses

Use
Fruits chewed as a betel-nut substitute. Stems used for flooring.
[PONG]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Palms of New Guinea

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0