The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees. Currently, 181 genera with around 2,600 species are known, most of which are restricted to tropical and subtropical climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.
The areca nut is the fruit of the areca palm, which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, not to be confused with betel leaves that are often used to wrap it. Consumption has many harmful effects on health and is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, including arecoline, contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. It is known to be a major risk factor for cancers of the mouth and esophagus. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts. Consumption by hundreds of millions of people worldwide – mainly of South Asian or Southeast Asian origins – has been described as a "neglected global public health emergency".
Areca is a genus of 51 species of palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and India, across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name Areca is derived from a name used locally on the Malabar Coast of India.
Areca catechu is a species of palm which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. The palm is native to the Philippines, but is widespread in cultivation and is considered naturalized in Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Taiwan, Madagascar, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, southern China, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, parts of the Pacific Islands, and also in the West Indies.
Pigafetta is a genus of two palm species in the family Arecaceae.
Acanthophoenix rubra, the barbel palm, is a critically endangered palm endemic to Mauritius, Rodrigues, and La Reunion that is prized for its edible palm hearts.
Trachycarpus takil, the Kumaon palm, is a fan palm tree that is endemic to the foothills of the Himalaya in southern Asia. It is very similar to Trachycarpus fortunei, the Windmill palm.
Sungai Pinang is a residential neighbourhood along the Pinang River within the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. The neighbourhood, bounded by the river to the north and Jalan Sungai Pinang to the south, is also geographically part of the Jelutong suburb.
Phoenix sylvestris also known as silver date palm, Indian date, sugar date palm or wild date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family native to southern Pakistan, most of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is also reportedly naturalized in Mauritius, the Chagos Archipelago, Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands. Growing in plains and scrubland up to 1300 m above sea level, the fruit from this palm species is used to make wine and jelly. The sap is tapped and drunk fresh or fermented into toddy. The fresh sap is boiled to make palm jaggery in West Bengal state of India and Bangladesh.
Hydriastele is a diverse and widespread genus of flowering plant in the palm family found throughout northern Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Southeast Asia. It consisted of just nine species until 2004, when molecular research, supported by morphologic similarities, led taxonomists to include the members of the Gulubia, Gronophyllum, and Siphokentia genera. About 40 species are now recognized.
Iguanura is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family from Southeast Asia, commonly called pinang. Closely related to the Heterospathe palms, they are noted for producing a wide variety of fruit forms. Its name combines the Spanish word for "lizard" with the Greek word for "tail".
Nenga is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family. It is native to Southeast Asia and commonly called pinang palm. N. gajah is the aberration in the genus with its short internodes, marcescent leaves and interfoliar inflorescence, a combination of traits seen in a few species of the closely related Pinanga and Areca palms. The genus name is based on a corruption of a Javanese term for a plant now classified within Pinanga.
The Coat of arms of Penang is largely based on the coat of arms of Penang first granted to the Settlement of Penang, then in the Federation of Malaya, by a Royal Warrant of King George VI dated 11 September 1949.
The flag of Penang consists of three vertical bands and an areca-nut palm on a grassy mount in the centre. All three bands are of equal width. From left to right, the colour of each band is light blue, white and yellow.
Butia paraguayensis is a species of Butia palm tree found in the cerrado region of South America. Its natural range runs from Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo in southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina and Uruguay. It was given the name dwarf yatay palm in English by 2000, and it is locally known as yata'i in Guaraní in Paraguay, or butiá-do-cerrado in Portuguese in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Ptychosperma elegans, commonly known as the solitaire palm, is a very slender palm endemic to Queensland in Australia. In the nursery trade and in the United States it may be confusingly referred to as Alexander palm, which is an often-used but misnomered name of another Australian palm species Archontophoenix alexandrae, the Alexandra palm.
Butia lallemantii is a species of palm described in 2006. Unlike more familiar Butia species, this is a clustering, acaulescent species lacking an above-ground trunk. It was the third of such species of Butia described. It is caespitose; branching underground with normally 3-6 branches. It grows to 60–160 cm tall, with 5-12 leaves with 24-40 leaflets a side. The fruit are edible, ovate-lanceolate, yellow-orange, 2.5-3.5 x 1.6-2.5 cm, with a reddish apex.
Butia campicola is a very small species of Butia palm with an underground trunk; native to the cerrados of central Paraguay and south-central Brazil.
Sabinaria magnifica is a species of palm tree and the only member of the genus Sabinaria. Native to the Darién Gap on the border between Colombia and Panama, it grows from 1 to 6 metres tall with large, deeply-divided leaf blades. It has been described as "striking", "spectacular" and "beautiful" by taxonomists.
Raphia hookeri is a palm species in the family Arecaceae or Palmae. It is found in Western and Central Africa, where it is locally used to make palm wine. It is best noted for its very long leaflets which in the subspecies R. h. gigantea, of Ghana and Ivory Coast, can be 11 ft 6 in in length, while only two inches wide. These are the longest leaflets known from any plant.
