| Classification |
| Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order Type: Basal Angiosperms-Monocots
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Family Common Name: Palm Family
Genera: Chamaedorea |
Defining Features: There is
a great deal of complexity within the family, which makes for disagreement
among botanists as to the exact delineation of genera, subfamilies and
tribes. The family is unique as a monocot in that it has an arborescent
habit, or is able to reach great heights without the production of true
secondary growth or "wood", as well as having large distinctively
'palmate' leaves.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Actinomorphic to slightly zygomorphic and bisexual or unisexual
(Plants are monoecious or dioecious). Hypanthium is sometimes present.
Inflorescences are of many flowers and of various types, often appearing
compound-spicate and subtended by 1-several spathes (bracts). Inflorescences
are either axillary or terminal. Ovaries are superior with axile placentation.
Fruit and Seed Features: Monocotyledon. Fruit is a berry or drupe. Seeds
have a small plumule and a radicle. Endosperm is present (sometimes liquid
as in coconut). Vegetative Features: Habit as shrubs or trees with often
unbranched trunk or stem (monopodial) and occasionally rhizomatous. Individuals
may be up to 180 feet in height, or remain shorter. Leaves are simple to
palmately or pinnately lobed or compound and alternate or crowded around
the trunk apex. Petioles have a sheathing base. Stipules are lacking.
Distribution: Pantropical
with a few in the warm temperate regions.
Economic Use: The Arecaceae
or Palmae, or more commonly, the palms, are invaluable to many native communities
of the tropics and subtropics as a source of food, wax and fibers as well
as leaves used in construction and making baskets. Coconuts, dates, oil
and sago, from which a nutritious flour is made, are all produced by various
taxa. Some species of grubs, which are always found in association with
the hearts of the inner stem, are considered a delicacy when found by many
native South American groups. The betel nut, which is chewed by many in
Africa and South East Asia as a stimulant also, comes from a palm species.
Many species are cultivated as garden and greenhouse ornamentals.
Number of Genera Globally: 200
Number of Species Globally: 2,780
