Palm tree

Arecaceae (palm family)
Manila dwarf coconut palm
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Arecales Family: Arecaceae
Genera
Many; see list of Arecaceae genera

Arecaceae (also known as Palmae or Palmaceae), the Palm Family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order, Arecales. There are 202 currently known genera with around 2,600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical or subtropical climates. Of all the families of plants, the Arecaceae is the most easily recognizable as distinct by most persons. The type member of this family is the areca palm, the fruit of which is chewed with the betel leaf and often confused with it. The Date Palm, Rattan, and Coconut also belong to this family. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis. Several species are harvested for heart of palm. Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine. The Palm Sunday festival uses palms, hence the name.

Economically important genera include:

• Areca
• Arenga
• Attalea
• Bactris
• Borassus
• Calamus - rattan palm
• Cocos - coconut
• Copernicia - carnauba wax palm
• Elaeis - oil palm
• Euterpe Cabbage Heart Palm, and Açaí Palm
• Jessenia
• Jubaea Chilean Wine Palm and Coquito Palm
• Orbignya
• Phoenix - date palms
• Rhapis
• Roystonea - royal palm
• Sabal - palmetto
• Salacca - salak
• Veitchia
• Wallichia
• Washingtonia

See list of Arecaceae genera for a complete listing.

Coconut Palm on Martinique

Fruit of a garden palm tree

Few palms tolerate severe cold, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The most cold-tolerant are Trachycarpus, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum, native to the southeastern United States.

In the United States, different types of palm trees can be seen in tropical climate areas, such as Florida, California and Hawaii and along the Gulf Coast through southern Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to Texas. The southeastern state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State because of the number of palms that line the state's Atlantic coast. Some palms can be grown as far north as Maryland, Arkansas, and even up along the Pacific coast to Oregon and Washington. There have even been known species of transplanted palm trees that have survived as far north as southern New Jersey [1]. The desert areas of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are also home to some native palms.

Southern Europe has two native palms, Chamaerops humilis (widespread, but mainly seen in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta) and Phoenix theophrastii (Crete; also southern Turkey). Many other palms are widely planted, with the Japanese Trachycarpus wagnerianus being grown successfully as far north as Iceland.

References

• C. H. Schultz-Schultzenstein (1832). Natürliches System des Pflanzenreichs..., 317. Berlin, Germany.
• N. W. Uhl, J. Dransfield (1987). Genera palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. (Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas)

External links

• Kew Botanic Garden's Palm Genera list A list of the currently acknowledged genera by Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London, England.
• Taxonomy of the family Arecaceae
• PACSOA Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia palm species listing with images.
• Plant a Palm A website with a large amount of information on palms, their cultivation and uses. This link goes to the photo gallery via species listing.