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, except for the Hyphaene genus, who has branched palms. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.
The coconut tree is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus Cocos. The term "coconut" can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics.
Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. P. dactylifera is the type species of genus Phoenix, which contains 12–19 species of wild date palms.
Raffia palms are a genus of 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".
Hyphaene thebaica, with common names doum palm and gingerbread tree, is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is a native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western part of Africa where it is widely distributed and tends to grow in places where groundwater is present.
Hyphaene is a genus of palms native to Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent.
Attalea maripa, commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up 35 m (115 ft) tall and can have leaves or fronds 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An edible oil can be extracted from the pulp of the fruit and from the kernel of the seed.
Borassus is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Papua New Guinea.
Voacanga africana is a small tree native to tropical Africa belonging to the family Apocynaceae that grows to 6 m (20 ft) in height and bears leaves that are up to 30 cm (12 in) in length. The yellow or white flowers are succeeded by paired, follicular, dehiscent fruit with a mottled green exocarp and a pulpy, yellow mesocarp surrounding the seeds. The plant contains alkaloids acting as CNS depressants and hypotensives
Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, ထန်းပင် (htan-pin) or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra and parts of China.
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees.
Pycnanthus angolensis is a species of tree in the nutmeg family, Myristicaceae. It is native to Tropical Africa. Its English language common names include African nutmeg, false nutmeg, boxboard, and cardboard. In Africa it is widely known as ilomba.
Inocarpus fagifer, commonly known as the Tahitian chestnut or Polynesian chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The tree has a wide range in the tropics of the south-west Pacific and south-east Asian regions, and a history of traditional use by the peoples of Polynesia and Melanesia. It is the only edible and culturally important member of the genus Inocarpus.
Hyphaene petersiana, the real fan palm or makalani palm, is a palm tree native to the subtropical, low-lying regions of south central Africa.
Osyris compressa is a facultatively hemiparasitic, mainly South African plant of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Until recently, the favoured binomial name was Colpoon compressum, but around 2001, the genus Colpoon was included in Osyris on the basis of comparative DNA studies. That assignment is not final, however, and according to the Kew Gardens plant list, Colpoon compressum P.J.Bergius, though still in review, is the accepted name.
Nypa fruticans, commonly known as the nipa palm or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome. The genus Nypa and the subfamily Nypoideae are monotypic taxa because this species is their only member.
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.
Raphia farinifera is a tropical African palm tree occurring in lowland riparian and swamp forest, also around human habitations and cultivated locations, on stream banks and other moist situations at altitudes of 50–1000 m. Found in Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and naturalised in east lowlands of Madagascar. Its generic epithet is derived from raphis = 'needle', probably in reference to the 4 mm long yellowish spines on the margins and main veins of the leaflets. The specific name refers to a type of starchy flour obtained from the trunk pith – farina = 'starch', fera = 'bearing'.
Phytelephas macrocarpa is a single-stemmed, unarmed, reclining or erect palm from the extreme northern coastal regions of South America, growing to some 12 m tall. It has been introduced and cultivated in tropical regions all over the world. The trunk is about 30 cm across, with prominent leaf scars. The crown is made up of about 30 plume-like leaves or fronds, each about 8 m long, dead leaves being persistent. It is one of some 7 species of palm in the genus Phytelephas, all of which have been exploited for vegetable ivory or tagua from the seed or corozo nut. The closely related Ammandra decasperma from Colombia, and Aphandra natalia from Ecuador, are also sources of vegetable ivory, but of inferior quality and therefore not commercially significant. 'Phytelephas macrocarpa' translates to ‘elephant plant’ with 'large fruit', the endosperm of the nut having the texture of elephant ivory, and consisting of large, thick-walled cells of two long-chain polysaccharides, mannan A and B.
Borasseae is a tribe in the palm subfamily Coryphoideae. The tribe ranges from southern Africa and Madagascar north through the Arabian Peninsula to India, Indochina, Indonesia and New Guinea. Several genera are restricted to islands in the Indian Ocean. The two largest genera, Hyphaene and Borassus, are also the most widespread.
