When we think of palm trees, we often picture them in Hollywood Boulevard or tropical resorts. However, the palm family Arecaceae has a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including one that prefers to stay hidden – the Pinanga subterranea palm. This unique palm grows its flowers and fruit entirely underground, shunning the limelight in an almost absurd manner. Discovered by Malaysian botanist Paul Chai in the late 1990s, this mysterious plant was found to be abundant in the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary on the island of Borneo. The fact that the palm grows anything other than roots underground is a rarity, but examples of such occurrences can be found across the plant kingdom. In fact, only one other plant in the world, a tiny orchid genus called Rhizanthella in Australia, shares this unique characteristic with the underground palm. The discovery of this palm highlights the importance of engaging with Indigenous knowledge and incorporating it into scientific research.
2024-01-22 13:00:00
Article from www.sciencenews.org