Arecaceae

Plant Sex: Monoecious, dioecious, or flowers bisexual.

Flowers: Actinomorphic,3-merous. Sepals and petals imbricate (overlapping), often as tepals. Gynoecium syncarpous (rarely apocarpous).

Inflorescence: Usually lateral pancles or spikes, when terminal, plant MONOCARPIC. Often subtended by a spathe. Largest inflorescence of all plants in Corypha.

Fruits: One-seeded drupes and berries. Coconut "husk" from ovary wall, coconut a seed.

Habit: Usually large, unbranched "treelike" plants. Remember -- no secondary growth! Some species such as Korthalsia have large spines on stem.

Leaves: Usually compound, often pinnate with a sheathing leaf base. Some leaves are huge! Raphia australis has the largest leaf of any plant (65 ft.).

Examples:

Areca

A. catechu (betel nut palm). Betel palm with boy climbing to get fruits. Betel nut in hand with Piper (Papua New Guinea).

Roystonea

R. borinquena (royal palm). Inflorescence.

Cocos

C. nucifera (coconut palm). Habit of the coconut palm. Fruits (coconuts) on the palm. A palm expert Roy Banka drinking from a coconut. Coconut opened up showing endosperm and embryo. Palm shoots for sale in market.

Lodoicea

L. maldivica (double coconut)

Chamaedorea

C. elegans (bamboo palm)
C. erumpens. Inflorescence.

Sabal

S. palmetto (palmetto). Habit of the palm. Inflorescence. Baskets woven from palm leaves at Red Bays Settlement, Andros Island, Bahamas.
S. minor. A common palmetto in Florida.

Bactris

B. gasipaes (pejibaye)

Phoenix

P. dactylifera (date palm). Palm in fruit. Closer view of dates.

Washingtonia

W. filifera (fan palm). Palms along street in Santa Barbara CA. Leaves and inflorescence of the palm. Palm trunk cut transversely (XS) to show vasculature (no wood!).

Calamus

C. sp. (rattans)

SIUC / College of Science / Elements of Plant Systematics
URL: http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/PLB304/Lecture24Liliales/Arecaceae.html
Last updated: 29-Mar-08 / dln