Botanical Family · Arecales
Arecaceae
Palm family
81 speciesOrder Arecales8+ well-known plants
The palm family — iconic monocots of tropical and subtropical regions. Palms are unbranched or rarely branched trees with a crown of large pinnate or palmate leaves. They provide coconut, dates, palm oil, rattan, and thatch, making them among the most economically important plants.
Browse all 81 species ↓
Unbranched trunk ringed with old leaf scars, topped by a single crown of large pinnately or palmately divided fronds; small three-parted flowers cluster densely on a branched inflorescence that emerges from a woody sheathing spathe.
The trunk has no secondary (ring) growth at all, so a wound never heals or thickens outward — the whole plant grows only from one bud at the crown, which is why cutting the crown kills the palm.
Which Arecaceae species is this?
Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Arecaceae species.
Leaf TypeIs the leaf a single blade, or divided into leaflets?
Bipinnately compound
Bipinnately compound (doubly divided, fishtail-shaped fronds)
Palmately compound (fan-shaped fronds)
Pinnately compound
Pinnately compound (feather-shaped fronds)
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Shrub
Tree
ArmatureAre the leaf stalks or trunk spiny?
Spiny
Unarmed
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Climbing vine
Shrub
Tree
ArmatureAre the leaf stalks or trunk spiny?
Spiny
Unarmed
ArmatureAre the leaf stalks or trunk spiny?
Spiny
Unarmed
HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?
Climbing vine
Shrub
Tree
ArmatureAre the leaf stalks or trunk spiny?
Spiny
Unarmed
ArmatureAre the leaf stalks or trunk spiny?
Spiny
Unarmed
How to recognise the Arecaceae family
- 01
Trunk with leaf scar rings
- 02
Large pinnate or palmate fronds
- 03
Drupes, berries, or nuts as fruit
Typical leaf characters
Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.
Typical flower & fruit
- Flower symmetryActinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- InflorescencePanicle
- FruitDrupe
Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.
Notable members
Calappa PalmActinorhytis calappariaManila Palm, Christmas PalmAdonidia merrilliiCoyure Palm, Ruffle PalmAiphanes horridaAlexander PalmArchontophoenix alexandrae f. vBeetle Nut Palm, Areca Nut Palm, Areca Palm, PinangAreca catechuHighland Betel-Nut PalmAreca macrocalyxTriandra PalmAreca triandraSee Siam, Hooker's Fishtail PalmArenga caudata
All 81 species in ARECACEAE
- Calappa PalmActinorhytis calapparia
- Manila Palm, Christmas PalmAdonidia merrillii
- Coyure Palm, Ruffle PalmAiphanes horrida
- Alexander PalmArchontophoenix alexandrae f. v
- Beetle Nut Palm, Areca Nut Palm, Areca Palm, PinangAreca catechu
- Highland Betel-Nut PalmAreca macrocalyx
- Triandra PalmAreca triandra
- See Siam, Hooker's Fishtail PalmArenga caudata
- Formosa Palm, Taiwan Sugar PalmArenga engleri
- Wight's Sago Palm, Wild CoconutArenga wightii
- Cohuene Palm, American Oil PalmAttalea cohune
- Prickly Palm, KawmakaBactris major
- Bismarck PalmBismarckia nobilis
- Palmyra Palm, Thoddy PalmBorassus flabellifer
- Slender Rattan CaneCalamus pseudotenuis
- Common Rattan, RattanCalamus rotang
- Rattan CaneCalamus thwaitesii var. thwaitesii
- Osier-Like Rattan PalmCalamus viminalis
- Carpentaria PalmCarpentaria acuminata
- Clustered Fish-Tail PalmCaryota mitis
- Fish-Tail Palm, Solitary Toddy Palm, Indian Sago Palm, Jaggery Palm, KittulCaryota urens
- Parlour PalmChamaedorea elegans
- Metallic PalmChamaedorea metallica
- Bamboo Palm, Reed PalmChamaedorea seifrizii
- Areca PalmChrysalidocarpus lutescens
- Coconut PalmCocos nucifera
- Talipot PalmCorypha umbraculifera
- Gebang PalmCorypha utan
- Red Sealing-Wax Palm, Lipstick Palm, Red Palm, Sealing Wax PalmCyrtostachys renda
- Hurricane Palm, Princess PalmDictyosperma album
- Triangle PalmDypsis decaryi
- Teddy Bear PalmDypsis leptocheilos
- Bamboo Palm, Golden Cane Palm, Yellow Palm, Yellow Areca PalmDypsis lutescens
- Oil Palm, African Oil Palm, JacquinElaeis guineensis
- Sagisa PalmHeterospathe elata
- Bottle PalmHyophorbe lagenicaulis
- Spindle PalmHyophorbe verschaffeltii
- Blue Latan PalmLatania loddigesii
- Red Latan PalmLatania lontaroides
- Raffled Fan-PalmLicuala grandis
- Swamp Fan-Palm, Mangrove Fan PalmLicuala spinosa
- Chinese Fan-Palm, Chinese Fountain PalmLivistona chinensis
- Round-Leaf Fan-Palm, Table Palm, Foot Stool PalmLivistona rotundifolia
- Black PalmNormanbya normanbyi
- Mangrove PalmNypa fruticans
- Stevensonia PalmPhoenicophorium borsigianum
- Date PalmPhoenix dactylifera
- Spiny Date PalmPhoenix loureiroi
- Sanegal Date PalmPhoenix reclinata
- Pygmy Date PalmPhoenix roebelenii
- Wild Date Palm, Thoddy Palm, Date Sugar Palm, Indian Date PalmPhoenix sylvestris
- Ivory Crownshaft Palm, Wild Betel NutPinanga dicksonii
- Fiji Fan-PalmPritchardia pacifica
- Solitaire PalmPtychosperma elegans
- Mac Arthur PalmPtychosperma macarthurii
- Lady PalmRhapis excelsa
- Nicobar Majestic PalmRhopaloblaste augusta
- Cuban Royal Palm, Bottle Palm, Royal PalmRoystonea regia
- SalakSalacca zalacca
- Footstool PalmSaribus rotundifolius
- Queen PalmSyagrus romanzoffiana
- Arikury PalmSyagrus schizophylla
- Jamaican Thatch Palm, Mountain Thatch PalmThrinax parviflora
- Chusan PalmTrachycarpus fortunei
- California Fan PalmWashingtonia filifera
- Fox Tail PalmWodyetia bifurcata
- Calamus dransfieldii
- Calamus guruba
- Calamus karnatakensis
- Calamus lacciferus
- Calamus lakshmanae
- Calamus metzianus
- Calamus nagbettai
- Calamus prasinus
- Calamus stoloniferus
- Calamus thwaitesii var. canaranus
- Calamus travancoricus
- Calamus vattayila
- Daemonorops kurziana
- Phoenix robusta
- Ptychosperma caryotoides
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