Looking for 'Princes'

A skinny tree just two meters tall stands proudly in a nursery at the Forestry Faculty of Papua University (Unipa) in West Papua's capital, Manokwari. Its broad leaves are spread out sideways along the length of the trunk. In the gaps between them green, elongated fruit peeks out.

This betel nut palm tree, or Areca unipa, is named after the campus. For laymen, the tree looks almost ordinary, not much different from the plethora of betel nut palm trees dotting the many islands of Papua. But in the world of botany, Areca unipa is a major discovery: if scientist Charlie Danny Heatubun had not discovered the tree in July of 2011, it would likely have gone extinct.

February 24, 2015