Pinanga andamanensis is one of the critically endangered endemic palms reported from the Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

. This species occurring on the slopes of the Mount Harriet National Park

Mount Harriet National Park

The Mount Harriet Island National Park is a national park located in Ferrargunj tehsil in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India...

. This insular species was first described by Odoardo Beccari

Odoardo Beccari

Odoardo Beccari was an Italian naturalist perhaps best known for discovering the titan arum, the plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, in Sumatra in 1878...

 in 1934 based on an old herbarium

Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...

 collection procured by E. H. Man during the latter part of the 19th century. After the type collection by E. H. Man this species had not been reported and thought to be extinct from these group of Islands until 1992. While working on the flora of Mount Harriet Hill ranges, Pinanga andamanensis was rediscovered by Mathew & Malick of the Botanical Survey of India

Botanical Survey of India

The Botanical Survey of India is an institution set up by the Government of India in 1887 to survey the plant resources of the Indian empire.-History:...

after a gap over 100 years. Live collections are introduced at Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Trivandrum, South India.