Description:

• Evergreen trees or shrubs, often suckering, rarely scandent or acaulescent, dioecious, monoecious or polygamous
• Trunks usually unbranched, rarely forked, fibrous, covered with persistent leaf bases or with bossed transverse scars
• Leaves in juvenile stage usually simple and plicate, on mature plants in a terminal crown, compound, pinnate to palmate, with folds tearing apart with unfolding; petiole and/or rachis often armed with prickles, lobes toothed or serrate
• Spadix simple or compound, enclosed in a spathe in bud stage; bracts and bracteoles usually present
• Flowers many, small, usually unisexual, with males in upper and females in lower half of spadix, or bisexual
• Sepals 3, free or fused below
• Petals 3, free or fused below
• Male flowers: stamens usually 6, rarely many; anthers 2-thecous, opening lengthwise, with copious pollen; rudimentary carpels sometimes present
• Female flowers: staminodes sometimes present; carpels free or fused basally, mostly 3-locular; ovule solitary in each locule, erect or pendulous
• Fruit a 1-3-seeded drupe or berry; pericarp smooth, rough, or scaly

Nomenclature:

• Arecaceae
  • Wright: 28 (1897)
  • Dyer: 215 (1952)
  • Tomlinson: 96 (1962)
  • Friedrich-Holzhammer: 1 (1967)
  • Dransfield: 1 (1986)
  • Uhl & Dransfield: 161 (1987)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera ± 200, species ± 1 200, ± cosmopolitan, widespread throughout warmer regions, solitary or gregarious, usually hygrophilous
• Southern Africa: Genera 5, species 6

References:

• DRANSFIELD, J. 1986. Flora of tropical East Africa. Palmae
• DYER, R.A. 1952. A note on the distribution of the palms of South Africa with special reference to Borassus in the Transvaal. South African Journal of Science 48
• FRIEDRICH-HOLZHAMMER, M. 1967. Arecaceae. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 161
• TOMLINSON, P.B. 1962. Palms of Africa. Principes 6
• UHL, N. & DRANSFIELD, J.W. 1987. Genera palmarum. International Palm Society and Allen Press, Lawrence KS
• WRIGHT, C.H. 1897. Palmae. Flora capensis 7

Resources:

• Key to Arecaceae genera

• Arecaceae genera: