Raffia palms are members of the genus Raphia. The Malagasy name rafia is derived from fia "to squeeze juice". The genus contains about twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and especially Madagascar, with one species also occurring in Central and South America. R. taedigera is the source of raffia fibers, which are the veins of the leaves, and this species produces a fruit called "brazilia pods", "uxi nuts" or "uxi pods".
Rhapidophyllum hystrix, the needle palm, is a palm native to coastal margins of the subtropical eastern Gulf and south Atlantic states of the United States. Populations can be found from coastal southeast South Carolina, southward to Florida and west across the coastal plain of Mississippi and southern Alabama. It is one of the most cold-hardy palms in the world, and can be found growing in several areas with warm temperate climates.
Aiphanes is a genus of spiny palms which is native to tropical regions of South and Central America and the Caribbean. There are about 26 species in the genus, ranging in size from understorey shrubs with subterranean stems to subcanopy trees as tall as 20 metres (66 ft). Most have pinnately compound leaves ; one species has entire leaves. Stems, leaves and sometimes even the fruit are covered with spines. Plants flower repeatedly over the course of their lifespan and have separate male and female flowers, although these are borne together on the same inflorescence. Although records of pollinators are limited, most species appear to be pollinated by insects. The fruit are eaten by several birds and mammals, including at least two species of amazon parrots.
Chamaerops is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. It contains only one species, Chamaerops humilis, variously called European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm. It is one of the most cold-hardy palms and is used in landscaping in temperate climates.
Borassus is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Papua New Guinea.
Roystonea is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Neotropics, in the Caribbean, the adjacent coasts of Florida in the United States, Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Commonly known as the royal palms, the genus was named after Roy Stone, a U.S. Army engineer. It contains some of the most recognizable and commonly cultivated palms of tropical and subtropical regions.
Corypha umbraculifera, the talipot palm, is a species of palm native to eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also grown in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Mauritius and the Andaman Islands. It is one of the five accepted species in the genus Corypha. It is a flowering plant with the largest inflorescence in the world. It lives up to 60 years before bearing flowers and fruits. It dies shortly after.
Ravenea is a genus of 20 known species of palms, all native to Madagascar and the Comoros.
Copernicia is a genus of palms native to South America and the Greater Antilles. Of the known species and nothospecies (hybrids), 22 of the 27 are endemic to Cuba. They are fan palms, with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. The species are small to medium-sized trees growing to 5–30 m tall, typically occurring close to streams and rivers in savanna habitats. The genus is named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. In some of the species, the leaves are coated with a thin layer of wax, known as carnauba wax.
Phytelephas is a genus containing six known species of dioecious palms, occurring from southern Panama along the Andes to Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, northwestern Brazil, and Peru. They are commonly known as ivory palms, ivory-nut palms or tagua palms ; the scientific name Phytelephas means "plant ivory" or more literally, "plant elephant". This and the first two of the common names refer to the very hard white endosperm of their seeds, which resembles elephant ivory.
Aiphanes horrida is a palm native to northern South America and Trinidad and Tobago. Aiphanes horrida is a solitary, spiny tree. In the wild it grows 3–10 metres tall tall with a stem diameter of 6–10 centimetres ; cultivated trees may be as much as 15 m (49') tall with a 15 cm (6") diameter. The epicarp and mesocarp of the fruit are rich in carotene and are eaten in Colombia, while the seeds are used to make candles. In parts of the Colombian Llanos, endocarps are used to play games.
Sabal bermudana, commonly known as the Bermuda palmetto or bibby-tree, is one of 15 species of palm trees in the genus Sabal and is endemic to Bermuda although reportedly naturalized in the Leeward Islands. It was greatly affected by the introduction of non-native plants such as the Chinese fan palm, which created competition for space that it usually lost.
Rhapis is a genus of about 10 species of small palms native to southeastern Asia from southern Japan and southern China south to Sumatra. The species are commonly known as lady palms. They are fan palms, with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. The plants have thin stems growing to 3–4 m tall, branching at the base, forming clumps and are dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.
Ceroxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae, native to the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, known as Andean wax palms.
Latania, commonly known as latan palm or latania palm, is a genus of flowering plant in the palm tree family, native to the Mascarene Islands in the western Indian Ocean.
Caryota urens is a species of flowering plant in the palm family, native to Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar and Malaysia, where they grow in fields and rainforest clearings, it is regarded as introduced in Cambodia. The epithet urens is Latin for "stinging" alluding to the chemicals in the fruit. Common names in English include solitary fishtail palm, kitul palm, toddy palm, wine palm, sago palm and jaggery palm. Its leaf is used as fishing rod after trimming the branches of the leaf and drying. According to Monier-Williams, it is called moha-karin in Sanskrit. It is one of the sugar palms.
Caryota obtusa is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae. It is native to India, Laos and Thailand. The palm is commonly called giant fishtail palm or Thai giant caryota. It can reach 20 meters or more in height and is thus considered a tree. It is monocarpic meaning it flowers once, then dies. Its inflorescence can reach 6 meters or more in length.
Caryota rumphiana, whose common names include the fishtail or Albert palm, is a Caryota or fish tail palm. It is native to Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago. Its leaves have a distinctive fishtail shape and its flowers have been described as mop-like. It is monocarpic. These leaves are bipinnate with as many as 1,800 fan-shaped or wedge-shaped leaflets, each up to 15 inches long by six inches wide.
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.
Caryota mitis, known as the clustering fishtail palm or fishtail palm, is a species of palm native to Tropical Asia from India to Java to southern China, now sparingly naturalized in southern Florida and in parts of Africa and Latin America. The species was originally described from Vietnam in 1790. In Florida, it grows in hummocks and in disturbed wooded areas.
