Editing Nypa fruticans (section)

===Historical Account:===
The first taxonomic mention of ''Nypa'' in Australia was that by Mueller
(1881), of plants collected from the Herbert River. Mueller placed the
species in Pandanaceae, but added that it was transitional between the
pandans and palms;... ''"qu o transitus a Pandanaceis, quibus riorum et fructuum structura aptius pertinet, ad Palmaceas formatur..."''.

He also
commented on the different spellings of the generic name and noted an
occurrence, which apparently no longer exists, on the Daintree River.
Bailey (1888) publishcd a subspecies, ''Nipa fruticans'' Wunnb var.
''Neameana'' Bail. (sic) also placing it in the family Pandanaceae,
describing it as..."stem s short, thick, from a stout creeping rhizomc,
which is flattened and about 1 ft. broad, with a thickness of about 6
in., rooting from the under surface only, the upper surface quite
smooth. Leaves averaging about 6 or 7 to a plant, 4 usually living, and
2 or 3 decaying, pinnate, 25 to 30 ft. long, the base very stout and
clasping the very short erect stem....". Bailey's description of the
subspecies is virtually identical to that which he gave for the species
(1883). Bailey also noted..."Hab.&#160;: Herbert River, Arthur Neame, 1880.
Mr Neame states that the Herbert River natives make use of the seeds
when in an unripe state for food, as is done in other countries where
Nipa is indigenous. "

Mueller (1889), in a census of Australian plants, relocated the
species from Pandanaceae into the obscure monotypic family of Nipaceae
which had been created by Brongniart in 1843.
Bailey (1909) again mentions the palm, but places it in the family
Palmae. He recorded the aboriginal names 'ki-bano' of the Cardwell
natives and 'tacannapoon' of the Pascoe River natives.
As far as we can ascertain, Bailey's variety is still valid but should
be subsumed with the species as there is insufficient reason to
maintain any taxonomic distinction.