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How do palm leaves develop differently from compound leaves on other flowering plants?

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Dense grove of acai palm trees (Euterpe oleracea) with slender trunks and abundant green fronds growing on Combu Island in Belem, Para, Brazil. — Palm Wild acai palms (*Euterpe oleracea*) growing on Combu Island in Belem, state of Para in Brazil.

The development of compound leaves in palms is a unique process that distinguishes them from all other flowering plants.1

In most flowering plants with compound leaves, each individual leaflet (pinna) develops from its own separate meristem that grows independently from the rest of the leaf structure.1

In contrast, the compound nature of a palm leaf is derived from a single meristem. This meristem initially forms a simple, plicated (folded) blade. As the leaf develops, the blade undergoes a process of lateral cell degradation along these folds, which results in the formation of the separate pinnae.1