Nypa fruticans ARECACEAE
Seeds of Nypa fruticans (Local name Nipah) a very common palm of river mouths and brackish water river deltas throughout Borneo. This is one of the most common and distinctive drift seeds in Borneo.
USES: The sweet transparent jelly inside the seed is an ingredient of a popular drink known as ice kachang. The palm leaves were previously used for attap roofing panels before the advent of corrugated zinc roofs in Borneo. The sweet sap of the flower buds was previously tapped to make a variety of products including palm sugar (jaggery) drinking alcohol (arrack) and industrial alcohol used to power vehicles.