Arecaceae
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| Arecaceae (palm family) | ||||||||||
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 Manila dwarf coconut palm | ||||||||||
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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. 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 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.
1859-Martinique.web.jpg
Palm_fruit.jpg
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 arecaceae can grow 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] (http://www.bg-map.com/palms/woodbury.html). The desert areas of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are also home to some native palms.