Arecaceae
Arecaceae
The palm family, one of the most economically and culturally important in the world. With more than 180 genera and 2,500 species, it is distributed throughout all tropical and subtropical regions of the planet. Includes dwarf to giant arborescent palms and provides food (coconut, date, palm oil, betel), fibres, building materials and ornamentals.
Acoelorrhaphe
Acoelorrhaphe
Monospecific genus of fan palms (Coryphoideae) native to Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America. Grows in dense colonies in wetlands and coastal swampy areas. Its slender, clustered stems give a highly ornamental habit. The only species, A. wrightii, is known as the Everglades palm or paurotis palm.
Acrocomia
Acrocomia
Genus of spiny palms from tropical America, with robust trunks armed with long black spines and pinnate leaves. Their oily fruits are of great economic and ecological importance. The genus includes few accepted species under modern criteria, A. aculeata being the most widespread. Provides oil, heart of palm, timber, and forage for wildlife.
Adonidia
Adonidia
Small genus of ornamental palms from South-East Asia and Pacific islands, known mainly for A. merrillii, the Christmas palm. Its elegant ringed trunks, clean crowns, and clusters of bright red or yellow fruits make it one of the most cultivated palms in tropical gardens worldwide.
Aiphanes
Aiphanes
Genus of spiny palms from northern South America and the Caribbean, with stems densely covered in long black spines on trunk, leaves and bracts. Their irregularly arranged pinnae give a highly distinctive wild and rustic appearance. Despite their forbidding look, they produce fruits valued by local wildlife and are used in specialist tropical gardens.
Allagoptera
Allagoptera
Genus of acaulescent or very short-stemmed palms native to eastern Brazil, adapted to coastal sandy soils and open campos. Their pinnate leaves emerge almost from ground level, giving a low and elegant silhouette. A. arenaria is the type species and inhabits coastal dunes of the Brazilian Atlantic coast, tolerating salt, sand and wind with remarkable resilience.
Aphandra
Aphandra
Monospecific genus of palms from Ecuador and Peru, whose leaves provide high-quality fibres used in making the toquilla straw hat (UNESCO Intangible Heritage). Related to the vegetable ivory palms (Phytelephas), it produces a hard endosperm though in lesser quantity. Its communities in Amazonian forests have great local socioeconomic importance.
Archontophoenix
Archontophoenix
Genus of slender Australian palms, among the most elegant and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical gardens worldwide. Their smooth, ringed grey-green trunks, dense crowns of arching leaves, and striking red fruit clusters make them highly ornamental. The name means "prince's palm" in Greek. Includes the bangalow and Alexandra palms.
Areca
Areca
Genus of palms from South and South-East Asia, known mainly for A. catechu, the betel nut palm, whose fruit (areca nut) is chewed by hundreds of millions of people in Asia together with betel leaf (Piper betle). It is one of the most widely cultivated palms in the world. The genus includes about 50 species, mostly slender shade palms.
Arenga
Arenga
Genus of pinnate-leaved palms from South and South-East Asia, characterised by dark, tough fibres at the base of leaf sheaths wrapping the trunk. Ranges from small clumping palms to large solitaries. Several species are economically important for their sap, which yields palm sugar, palm wine, and vinegar.
Asterogyne
Asterogyne
Attalea
Attalea
Genus of large solitary palms from tropical America, with large clusters of oily fruits and high-strength fibres. Ecologically key in neotropical savannas, forests, and palm groves. Includes palms of high economic value: sources of oil, fibre, palm wine, and building material for Amazonian and Andean communities.
Bactris
Bactris
Megadiverse genus of spiny palms from tropical America, with more than 70 species ranging from small understorey clumpers to medium arborescents. Their stems, leaves, and fruits are frequently armed with black spines. B. gasipaes, the peach palm, is one of the few palms fully domesticated by pre-Hispanic civilisations.
Balaka
Balaka
Genus of elegant palms endemic to the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. Their slender, solitary or loosely grouped stems, crowned by elegant pinnate leaves and small red to orange fruits, make them very ornamental palms for humid tropical and subtropical climates. The genus is considered vulnerable due to deforestation of Fijian forests.
Beccariophoenix
Beccariophoenix
Genus of Malagasy palms closely related to coconuts (Cocos). Their large pinnate leaves with stiff leaflets display natural windows or perforations in some specimens (hence the name "window palm" for B. madagascariensis). The genus is named after the distinguished Italian botanist and palm specialist Odoardo Beccari (1843–1920).
Bentinckia
Bentinckia
Small genus of slender palms from southern India and the Nicobar Islands, with two accepted species. Their elegant ringed trunks, prominent crownshafts, and crowns of arching pinnate leaves make them very ornamental palms. Named in honour of Governor-General of India William Henry Cavendish Bentinck (1774–1839).
Bismarckia
Bismarckia
Monospecific genus of giant fan palms endemic to Madagascar, considered among the most spectacular palms in the world. Their enormous palmate leaves of iridescent silvery blue-grey colour can reach 3 m in diameter. Named in honour of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898). Enormously popular in global tropical gardening.
Borassodendron
Borassodendron
Genus of dioecious fan palms closely related to Borassus, with two species in Malaysia and Borneo. Their large columnar trunks and huge palmate leaves make them palms of great landscape presence. They are rare in cultivation and little known outside their natural range, but of great interest to specialised collectors.
Brahea
Brahea
Genus of fan palms from western Mexico and Central America, highly valued in arid and Mediterranean gardens for their remarkable drought and cold resistance. Their silvery to glaucous palmate leaves and slender trunks up to 15 m make them very ornamental. Named in honour of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). Includes some of the most drought- and cold-hardy palms in the world.
Butia
Butia
Genus of feather palms from South America (Southern Cone), popularly known as pindo or yatay palms. Their arching grey-green to glaucous leaves and very aromatic, edible, beta-carotene-rich fleshy fruits make them very popular in Mediterranean and warm-temperate gardens. They are the most cold-hardy pinnate-leaved palms growing on the American continent.
Calamus
Calamus
Genus of climbing palms in subfamily Calamoideae, commonly known as rattans, native mainly to the Asian tropics, Africa, and Australia. With over 500 accepted species, it is the most species-rich genus in family Arecaceae.