Description: Bikkia is a genus of flowering plants in Rubiaceae, the coffee family. Bikkia palauensis is a small, endemic coastal shrub of Palau with showy white flowers. Two or three of its fragrant flowers are produced on short pedicels in the terminal leaf axils. The trumpet-shaped flowers look square when viewed from the front. Flowering occurs year round. Its seed pods contain hundreds of tiny seeds.

Distribution: The genus Bikkia is native to the Philippines the Maluka region of eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and some of the western Pacific islands of Melanesia and Micronesia (Mabberley 2008). The Palauan endemic Bikkia palauensis grows as a woody plant in common coastal vegetation, occurring in limestone areas of the Rock Islands of Palau. It commonly grows on the steep sea cliffs of these islands.

Uses in Palau: The fragrant flowers of this endemic shrub in Palau were traditionally used as a natural decoration for women during dances and the first birth ceremony. According to Tuyama (1941), the Japanese people based in Palau, while it was under the political control of Japan, used “this flower in substitution for Lilium longiflorum in funeral decorations.” Today this endemic species is recognized as the National Flower of the Republic of Palau.