palm

Introduction
Distribution
Economic importance
Ecology
Characteristic morphological features
- Trunks and stems
- Roots
- Leaves
- Inflorescences
- Flowers
- Fruits
Evolution

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

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

Yatay palm trees scattered across dry grassland and low shrubs in El Palmar National Park, Argentina, under a clear blue sky.

View looking up at the leafy canopy of a Bactris gasipaes palm tree with clusters of red pejibaye fruit hanging beneath the fronds.

A woman crouches on the ground weaving large green coconut palm fronds into mats, surrounded by palm leaves, in an outdoor workspace in Chapra, India.

Cluster of ripe, reddish-orange oil palm fruits (Elaeis guineensis) with dark tips, tightly packed together.

Tall babassu palm tree with a slender trunk and large, feathery fronds, standing among other palms under a partly cloudy sky in Piaui, Brazil.

At a Glance

palm summary

Quizzes

Spreading oak tree in summer. (green, leaves, deciduous, shade)

Trees: Giants Holding the Sky

Field of baobab trees, Madagascar. (bottle tree)

Trees of the World

Venus's-flytrap. Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) one of the best known of the meat-eating plants. Carnivorous plant, Venus flytrap, Venus fly trap

Plants: From Cute to Carnivorous

Related Questions

How are coconut palms grown from ripe coconuts?
How are date palms propagated for commercial planting?
How are dates produced by date palms?
How can coconuts travel across oceans and establish palms in new places?
How can palm-based agroforestry provide income while helping conserve rainforests?
How can scientists estimate the age of some palms from leaf scars?
How can some palms grow at high elevations in the Andes?
How do black bears disperse palm seeds in Florida?
How do cassowaries help spread rainforest palm seeds in Australia?
How do elephants help disperse seeds of African palm species?
How do palm leaves develop differently from compound leaves on other flowering plants?
How do palm trunks differ from the trunks of hardwood trees?
How do rattan palms use spiny structures to climb?
How do slash-and-burn methods used for oil palm plantations affect air quality?
How has oil palm farming contributed to deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia?
How is coconut water different from coconut milk?
How is copra made from coconuts?
How is palm kernel oil different from palm oil?
How is toddy made from coconut palm flower stalks?
How long does it take a coconut palm to begin producing fruit?
How many genera and species are included in the palm family Arecaceae?
What is the difference between pinnate palm leaves and palmate palm leaves?
What useful products come from different parts of a date palm?
Where have early palm fossils been discovered?
Which animals pollinate different species of palms?
Which climates and regions support most palm species?
Which foods and products are made using palm oil or palm kernel oil?
Which palm species grows farthest north?
Which palm species grows farthest south?
Which palm species provide sugar or alcohol through tapped flower stalks?
Which palms are important sources of starch such as sago?
Which palms can grow in deserts when underground water is available?
Which products can be made from coconut palm fruit, leaves, trunks, and sap?
Which tropical regions have the greatest diversity of palm species?
Why are palms important sources of food and materials in tropical communities?
Why are palms important to tropical forest ecosystems?
Why are palms widely planted as ornamental plants in warm regions and indoor spaces?
Why can palm trunks withstand winds that break many ordinary trees?
Why cannot most palm trunks grow thicker after they begin growing upward?
Why do some palm leaves have spines or hooks?
Why do some palms trap leaf litter in their crowns?
Why does clearing forests for oil palm plantations threaten orangutans?
Why has the date palm been important in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East?
Why must estimates of palm age based on leaf scars be used carefully?
What is Sukkot, and when does it begin?
What are the origins and significance of Sukkot?
What are the main practices during Sukkot?

Science Plants Flowering Plants

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External Websites

PennState Extension - Palms as Houseplants
University of Nevada, Reno - College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources - Pruning Palm Trees (PDF)
UF|IFAS Extension - Palm Morphology and Anatomy
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Palm trees
National Center for Biotechnology Information - Pubmed Central - Hybridization in palms (Arecaceae)
Clemson Cooperative Extension - Home and Garden Information Center - Palm Diseases and Nutritional Problems
The Spruce - 21 types of Palm tree varieties you need to grow
University of California - Agriculture and Natural Resources - General Care and Maintenance of Palms (PDF)
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Arecaceae

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

palm - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
palm - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

palm

tree

Also known as: Arecaceae, Palmae

Written by

Harold E. Moore

Professor of Botany, L.H. Bailey Hortorium, New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, 1960–80. Author of several articles on the palm order.

Harold E. MooreAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

palm, (family Arecaceae), family of nearly 190 genera and more than 2,450 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants (order Arecales). Members of the palm family are of major ecological importance to many tropical ecosystems and provide food and habitat to a wide range of wildlife. Economically, palms supply a number of globally significant products, including coconut, dates, acai, palm oil and other oils, fibers, and building materials, and are of practical and cultural importance to local...

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