Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pinanga Andamanensis
Mains level: NA
A rare palm endemic to the South Andaman Island is finding a second home at Thiruvananthapuram-based Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI).
Last year one species from our newscard : Species in news: Hump-backed Mahseer made it into the CSP 2019. The ‘Abutilon ranadei’ flower in the newscard creates such a vibe yet again.
A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time often find their way into the prelims. Make a special note here.
Pinanga Andamanensis
- Pinanga andamanensis is an IUCN critically endangered species and one of the least known among the endemic palms of the Andaman Islands.
- The name is derived from ‘Penang’, the modern-day Malaysian state.
- Its entire population of some 600 specimens naturally occurs only in a tiny, evergreen forest pocket in South Andaman’s Mount Harriet National Park.
- It was originally described by the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1934.
- His description was based on an old herbarium specimen collected by E.H. Man, a late-19th century assistant superintendent in the Andaman administration.
- After that first identification, it was thought to be extinct till 1992.
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