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.
Bactris is a genus of spiny palms which are native to Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean. Most species are small trees about 2 m tall, but some are large trees while others are shrubs with subterranean stems. They have simple or pinnately compound leaves and yellow, orange, red or purple-black fruit. The genus is most closely related to several other spiny palms—Acrocomia, Aiphanes, Astrocaryum and Desmoncus. The fruit of several species is edible, most notably B. gasipaes, while others are used medicinally or for construction.
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.
Aiphanes minima is a spiny palm tree which is native to the insular Caribbean from Hispaniola to Grenada, and widely cultivated elsewhere. Usually 5–8 metres (16–26 ft) tall, it sometimes grows as an understorey tree and only 2 m (6.6 ft) in height.
Roystonea altissima is a species of palm which is endemic to hillsides and mountain slopes near the interior of Jamaica. The name altissima is Latin for "highest", however they are not the tallest species in the genus Roystonea. They are usually found just over sea-level to 760 metres (2,490 ft) in elevation.
Colpothrinax is a genus of palms native to Central America and the Caribbean. Colpothrinax is a member of subfamily Coryphoideae, tribe Trachycarpeae, although its placement within the subtribe is uncertain, on the basis of plastid DNA
Desmoncus is a genus of mostly climbing, spiny palms native to the Neotropics. The genus extends from Mexico in the north to Brazil and Bolivia in the south, with two species present in the southeastern Caribbean.
Geonoma is a genus of small to medium-sized palms native to the forest understorey of tropical Central and South America.
Schippia concolor, the mountain pimento or silver pimeto, is a medium-sized palm species that is native to Belize and Guatemala. Named for its discoverer, Australian botanist William A. Schipp, the species is threatened by habitat loss. It is the sole species in the genus Schippia.
Roystonea regia, commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida, and parts of Central America. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted throughout the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental tree. Although it is sometimes called R. elata, the conserved name R. regia is now the correct name for the species. The royal palm reaches heights from 15–24 m (50–80 ft) tall. Populations in Cuba and Florida were long seen as separate species, but are now considered a single species.
Roystonea borinquena, commonly called the Puerto Rico royal palm, is a species of palm which is native to Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Leucothrinax morrisii, the Key thatch palm, is a small palm which is native to the Greater Antilles, northern Lesser Antilles, The Bahamas and Florida and the Florida Keys in the United States.
Roystonea oleracea, sometimes known as the Caribbean royal palm, palmiste, imperial palm or cabbage palm, is a species of palm which is native to the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also reportedly naturalized in Guyana and on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Roystonea princeps, commonly known as Morass cabbage palm or Morass royal palm, is a species of palm which is endemic to western Jamaica.
Roystonea lenis is a species of palm which is endemic to Guantánamo Province in eastern Cuba.
Roystonea maisiana is a species of palm which is endemic to the Maisí region of Guantánamo Province in eastern Cuba.
Roystonea stellata is an extinct species of palm endemic to Yagruma terrace in the Maisí region of Guantánamo Province in eastern Cuba. The species is known from only a single collection made by French-born botanist Frère León in 1939.
Roystonea violacea is a species of palm which is endemic to the Maisí region of Guantánamo Province in eastern Cuba.
Geonomateae is a palm tribe in the subfamily Arecoideae. It is an important Neotropical group due to its wide distribution across Central and South America, its diversity and abundance, and the use of a number of species by local human populations. The distribution of the tribe stretches from southeast Mexico down through Central America and into South America, notably Brazil and Bolivia, and species are also found in the Greater and Lesser Antilles. This tribe consists of a group of understory and sub-canopy palms that populate both tropical lowland and montane forests. While members of this group are relatively easy to collect, as they are not canopy palms or spiny palms, and are well represented in herbaria, the taxonomy and phylogeny of the species within the tribe are still uncertain. The resolution of the tribe has been disputed despite the fact that tribe's species are characterized by three morphological synapomorphies: the petals of pistillate flowers are basally connate, the presence of slender and elongate styles, and the flowers are borne in pits in the rachillae.
