Arecaceae

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Palm tree)

{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Arecaceae (palm family) | image = Manila dwarf coconut palm.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Coconut Palm Cocos nucifera | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Liliopsida | ordo = Arecales | familia = Arecaceae | familia_authority = Schultz-Schultzenstein | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = Many; see list of Arecaceae genera }}

Arecaceae (also known as Palmae), 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, Rattans, 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, usually leaves from the Date Palm, hence the name.

The growth habit of palms is usually a straight, unbranched stem, and rarely a dichotomous branching stem or a creeping habit (liana). They have large evergreen leaves that are either palmately or pinnately compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a tubular sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a panicle or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity. The flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and may be bisexual or unisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each and may be distinct or joined. The stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded berry or drupe.

Arecaceae is the first modern family of monocots that is clearly represented in the fossil record. Palms first appear in the fossil record around 80 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period. The first modern species, such as Nypa fruticans and Acromia aculeata, appeared about 69 million years ago. Palms appear to have undergone an early period of adaptive radiation and became widespread and abundant by 60 million years ago.

Economically important genera include:

Areca
Arenga
Attalea
Bactris
Borassus - Palmyra palm
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
Metroxylon - Sago palm
Orbignya
Phoenix - Date palm
Raphia - Raffia palm
Rhapis
Roystonea - Royal palm
Sabal - Palmettos
Salacca - Salak
Trachycarpus
Veitchia
Wallichia
Washingtonia

See list of Arecaceae genera for a complete listing.

Image:Santa Monica Palm Trees.jpg Image:Washingtonia filifera in Palm Canyon.jpg Image:Dates on date palm.jpg

Few palms tolerate severe cold, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. The three most cold-tolerant species are Trachycarpus fortunei, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor, both native to the southeastern United States. For more details, see hardy palms.

In the United States, different types of palm trees can be seen in tropical and mediterranean climate areas, such as Florida, (southern) 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 palms 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.

[edit]

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).

[edit]