3.1 Wild stands
Beccari (1918) put the centre of diversity of M. sagu in the Moluccan islands in
Indonesia. Vast wild stands of sago palm occur on the island of New Guinea, both
in Irian Jaya, the Indonesian part, and in the independent state of Papua New Guinea.
In the author’s opinion, New Guinea should be considered as the centre of diversity.
Flach (1983) gave a rough estimate of the wild and cultivated area covered with good
sago palm stands. His views are updated in Table 3. The location of the areas is shown
on the map in Figure 5.