Researchers Discover “Rare Palm Species” In Borneo That Flowers & Fruits Underground

Up until now, the buah pinang that many Malaysians know and love has always been thought to grow on trees.

However, some researchers have found a species of pinang that grows flowers and fruits underground!

According to researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this species “is the only known member of the palm family (Arecaceae) to flower and fruit almost entirely underground.” Due to this characteristic, they have named this species Pinanga subterranea.

This plant is found in the rainforests of western Borneo (in both Sarawak and Kalimantan, Indonesia). However, it seems that the indigenous people there already have knowledge of this plant prior to its scientific discovery.

It has many names in different Bornean languages such as Pinang Tanah, Pinang Pipit, Muring Pelandok, and Tudong Pelandok.

The researchers actually came to know of this plant from a Malaysian botanist, Dr Paul Chai who first encountered the palm in 1997 during a visit to Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Sarawak.

It is said that Dr Paul Chai wanted to take a picture of a young palm and so he brushed off the leaves on the ground. This action revealed the fruits of the palm. Be it as it may, there were several plants there but only one was bearing fruit.

So, Kew scientists Benedikt Kuhnhäuser, Peter Petoe and William Baker then went to visit the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in 2018 and collected specimens of the palm for research purposes. Dr Benedikt Kuhnhäuser said:

“Without the tip-off from our Malaysian colleague Dr Paul Chai, we probably would have mistaken this exciting new species for an unremarkable palm seedling and would have walked right past it.”

As this plant is well-known by the indigenous people of Borneo, the scientific community has almost no knowledge of it. So, they believe this proves the need for researchers and local indigenous communities to collaborate.

This is certainly very interesting and we learn something new every day.

Also read: Cockroach Species Discovered in 2016 At Forest Reserve In SG Gets Named After A Pokémon