The Flowering Habit of Nipa (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) in Semi-wild Stands of the Davao Region, Philippines

Abstract

Observations on the flowering characteristics of nipa (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) were carried out on at least 70 randomly selected palms in various semi-wild stands found in the Davao Region, Philippines (i.e., Bago Aplaya, Ecoland, and Talomo) from April 2010 until February 2011. The developmental stages of inflorescence were identified, described in detail, and arbitrarily divided according to morphological changes exhibited by the inflorescence. These developmental stages are as follows: emergence (E) stage, stage 2 (S2), pre-anthesis (PA) stage, and the antheses stage, which is divided into the female receptivity (F) stage and the male anthesis (M) stage. Among the parameters measured for each stage include the length of the inflorescence from base to tip, the number and length of staminate rachillae, and the number of female flowers. For morphological characteristics comparison of this monoecious inflorescence, different stands in Carmen, Davao del Norte, were observed. The Carmen stands were significantly more fecund compared to the Davao City stands. The former had more female flower count (61 vs. 58 per pistillate head) and more staminate rachilla count (33 vs. 17 spikes) than the latter. The final inflorescence length in Carmen was significantly taller than in Davao City (117.5 cm vs. 84.3 cm), suggesting that the plants in the former had longer tapping potential for sap production. The results have implications toward the future program of nipa hybridization to produce better varieties.