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Classification
Nenga
Nomenclature
SUMMARY
Small to moderate sized, solitary or clustering, monoecious palms. Stem slender with green internodes and distinct leaf scars at least distally, basally often with cone of adventitious roots. Leaf sheath tubular forming a well-defined crownshaft; petiole well developed, unarmed; blade pinnately divided in single-several folded leaflets, these reduplicate, evenly spaced, inserted in one plane, linear to sigmoid, acute or acuminate, sometimes and especially the apical ones joined with only a short indentation at the tip. Inflorescence protandrous, in Thai species infrafoliar, pendulous, branching to 1(–2) orders, sheathed in bud by thin, membranous prophyll; peduncular bracts incomplete; rachillae basally with protandrous triads of one central female flower and two lateral male flowers, distally with solitary or paired male flowers. Flowers sessile, cream white; male flower slightly longer than female flower, fleshy, with 6 free stamens, elongate anthers, and no pistillode; female flower, with no or minute staminodes; gynoecium globose, uniloculate, stigmas three, sessile. Fruiting and flowering rachillae not distinctly different in colour; fruit ovoid, epicarp smooth; mesocarp thin, fleshy; endocarp composed of longitudinal fibres. Seed with deeply ruminate endosperm. Germination adjacent ligular.
Five species in S. Indo-China to W. Malesia. Two species and one variety in Thailand.