Arecaceae

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. 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 sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis. 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.

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.
• 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.