The betel palm can be found in countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, from the Cretaceous period to the present day, as evolution has equipped this plant with characteristics that allow it to withstand storms resiliently.
After Typhoon Yagi made landfall and swept through northern provinces like Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, and Hanoi, you may have noticed uprooted trees scattered throughout your neighborhood. From ancient giants like banyan and mahogany to younger hardwoods like ban flower, sưa, phoenix, and sấu, all could be toppled by the storm’s winds.
However, there is one type of tree throughout the city that has shown an unusual resilience against strong winds. With slender, fragile trunks and wide canopies reaching nearly 20 meters high, these trees can tower over a four-story building, making them the first to face the gusts during many storms.
Yet when confronted with Typhoon Yagi, they merely swayed back and forth. At times it seemed they would snap or collapse, but no, these trees stood firm and miraculously remained upright after the storm.
If you don’t believe it, take a walk around your neighborhood and see for yourself; are there any betel palms that have fallen?
A row of betel palms during Typhoon Yagi.
But why do these “skinny, pale fellows” have such great fortitude against strong winds?
It turns out, the answer lies in various factors like aerodynamics and cross-sectional stress… However, if you don’t want to delve into the physical nature of a betel palm standing against a storm, you just need to understand one simple thing: The betel palm is not a hardwood tree.
Betel palm (scientific name: Areca catechu) belongs to the Areca genus, Arecaceae family, which includes a group of over 2,500 species that appeared about 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. This means that the ancestors of the betel palm were around to watch dinosaurs walk the Earth.
The ancestors of the betel palm were there to watch dinosaurs walk the Earth.
Essentially, the betel palm is more closely related to grasses and rice than to hardwood trees. As you can see, grasses and rice are typically bent rather than uprooted or broken in strong winds, and a betel palm behaves similarly.
If you cut a betel palm trunk in half, you will not see growth rings like those of ordinary hardwood trees. Instead, the trunk of the betel palm is made up of a collection of slender, porous, and firm fibers, wrapped in layers of soft, flexible tissue scattered throughout and highly elastic.
Since it is not made from solid wood and does not expand horizontally, the shear stress through a betel palm trunk during strong winds is not significant, making it less susceptible to breaking. Additionally, the elastic tissues of the betel palm contribute to its resilience. Even if the trunk tilts in the wind, it can return to its original position.
The betel palm is not a hardwood tree; its trunk structure consists of elastic fibers that allow it to reduce shear stress from the wind.
And if you need a little more knowledge about physics here, the betel palm itself is an aerodynamics wonder. Because the trunk consists of fibers, it primarily grows vertically. A betel palm can reach heights of up to 20 meters, surpassing a four-story building. However, they have no branches.
The absence of branches and large spreading canopies gives the betel palm an advantage when facing storm winds. The wind resistance on a betel palm canopy is actually quite low. Its leaves consist of large central veins, with smaller, long, slender leaves that allow wind to pass through easily.
While betel palm leaves may be shredded during a storm, this, in turn, reduces wind resistance, making it harder for the tree to topple. The shredded leaves will soon be replaced as new leaves sprout after the storm.
Betel palm leaves are structured to help reduce wind impact.
Speaking of roots, the betel palm also has the advantage of stability due to its numerous small roots, which spread into the topsoil. These small root clusters anchor firmly into the ground and usually swell into a heavier base, helping to balance the height of the betel palm trunk and keeping it upright even during storms.
This is also a characteristic shared by many other plants in the Arecaceae family, such as coconut, oil palm, ornamental palms, and royal palms. Therefore, you rarely see these plants being uprooted.
Occasionally, you may witness a betel palm being uprooted in mountainous areas when a large section of land used for planting is eroded.
Coconut – a plant related to the betel palm, often planted in coastal areas.
In coastal areas, coconuts are usually planted as a key species to withstand storms and stabilize the soil. Oil palms tend to be planted more in hilly and mountainous regions. Thus, when wandering around the city after Typhoon Yagi, you will often encounter the resilience of the betel palm.
In urban areas, betel palms are commonly planted for ornamental purposes. Meanwhile, in rural areas, people often grow betel palms to harvest the fruit and flowers, using them for incense as a Vietnamese tradition.
Betel palms are intertwined with the childhood of many people in the countryside, with fans made from betel leaves and brooms made from betel palm leaves. Elderly people often eat betel nuts with betel leaves and lime. Few know that the betel nut, when crushed, can also be consumed as a remedy for worms.
The betel palm is connected to Vietnamese rural life.
Outside of Vietnam, the betel palm also grows in many other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand. It is also found in Taiwan, southern China, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and some islands in the Pacific.
These regions are frequently affected by tropical storms. This explains why the betel palm has survived from the Cretaceous period to the present day, as evolution has equipped this plant with characteristics that allow it to stand resiliently in stormy winds.
