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info
The nipa palm is one of
the most important economic Philippine crops. The leaves are commonly
use for thatching. Leaflets are used for making hats, baskets, mats,
raincoats, wrappings for suman. The midribs are used for making brooms;
the petioles for fuel.
 Botany
Nipa is a stout, subterranean, trunkless and thornless
rootstock. Leaves are at the ends of the rootstocks, large, rosette
and compound, 5-10 meters long, arising from the stout underground stem
(rhizome). Leaflets are numerous, rigid, lancelolate, up to 1 meter long,
2 to 7 cm wide. Male inflorescence is brown, erect, up to 1 meter high.
Female inflorescence is stout, 1 meter high or less.Fruiting heads on the top of the erect stalk consists of compact, dry
fibrous fruits with husks, 10 by 12 cm, ribbed or unevenly compressed
to angular. The palm fruits are large and one-seeded. Seeds are hard, white, and as large as a hen's egg.
Distribution
- Along tidal streams in brackish swamps
and muddy banks throughout the Philippines.
- Also occurs in India, through Malaya to tropical Australia.
Parts
used
Roots, shoots and leaves.
Uses
Edibility
Young seeds are edible.
Nipa is a source of alcohol, sugar and vinegar.
The fermented juice, tuba, is extensively used as beverage.
Folkloric
Decoction of fresh
leaves used for indolent ulcers.
In Malaya, the juice of young shoots, with coconut milk, used as a drink for treating herpes.
Ash of roots and leaves used for headaches and toothaches.
Fresh leaves, in cataplasm or lotion form, used for treatment of ulcers.
The fermented sap diluted with water used as eyewash in eyelid
and conjunctival inflammations.
In Bangladesh, used as a tonic and stimulant for debility.
Others
Leaves are one of the most commonly used material for thatching.
Leaflets are used for making hats, raincoats, baskets, bags, mats, suman wrappers.
Midribs used for making brooms.
Petioles used for fuel.
Nipa is a source of alcohol, vinegar and sugar.
Availability
Cultivated and
wildcrafted.
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