Bentinckia nicobarica

Description

Bentinckia nicobarica is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family found to occur in Nicobar group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. This is an endemic Palm occurring in Great Nicobar, Katchal, Nancowry and Car Nicobar Islands.The occurrence of this species in Andaman and Nicobar group of islands other than Katchal Island is yet to be confirmed as natural/escape or by human introduction. It is an endangered species according to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2016 with Red List Category & Criteria as C2a ver 2.3. Living specimens of this taxon is conserving at Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah and at the Field Gene Bank of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram in India. Bentinckia nicobarica grows about 20m tall and girth is about 25 cm. The stems are used by the local people in house and fence construction. It is generally seen along with other palm species such as Areca catechu, Pinanga manii and Rhopaloblaste augusta.