Nypa fruticans

Scientific name: Nypa fruticans Wurmb

Family: Arecaceae

Synonym: Nipa fruticans (Wurmb) Thunb.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Golpata.

Tribal name: Ree-um-bawn (Rakhaing).

English name: Nipa palm, Mangrove palm.

Description of the plant: A monoecious palm, with stout, subterranean, trunkless rootstock. Leaves are at the ends of the rootstocks, large, rosette and compound, 5-10 m long, arising from the stout underground stem (rhizome). Leaflets are numerous, rigid, lanceolate, up to 1 m long, 2-7 cm wide. Male inflorescence is brown, erect, up to 1 m high. Female inflorescence is stout, 1 m high or less. Fruit is globose, nodding, up to 40 cm in diameter. Carpels are numerous, dark-brown, compressed, and irregularly angled. Seeds are hard, white, and as large as a hen’s egg.

Plant parts used: Leaf.

Ethnomedicinal uses: Decoction of fresh leaves used for indolent ulcers.

A tooth powder is made with the burning ash of the leaves are used for brushing teeth twice a day until the toothache is cured.

Paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is applied on the forehead for remedy of headache.

Distribution: The species is found in coastal areas, especially in the Sundarbans.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….