Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Betel-nut Palm
Description
Genus Areca
Solitary or small clump-forming
palms, stem annulate
, slender, smooth
, unarmed
, 0.5-25 cm in diameter. Leaves pinnate, pinnae mostly narrow, often with 2 or more principal ribs
, long acuminate, rather short stiff. Base
of leaf stalk
usually forming a prominent
shining swollen crown shaft. Leaflets
thin, often confluent
. Inflorescence much branched, borne at the base of the crown shaft. Female flowers in triads
at the base of the rachillae, male flowers small, variously arranged on the upper part of rachillae; sepals small; petals much large, obliquely lanceolate, valvate
; stamens 3-6 (-12-24) or more; anthers
basifixed
, erect
; female flowers on the base of the rachillae larger than the male, sepals and petals imbricate, petals acute; ovary one-chambered, stigmas 3, very short; ovule one, basal, erect. Fruit ovoid
or oblong
, exocarp
fleshy
, fibrous
. Seeds with truncate
base, embryo basilar.
A genus with c.48 species, distributed from N. W. India, Ceylon, Indo-China, Malesia to the Solomon Islands and Queensland. It[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- (Auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
()
- Auct.
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Areca
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 17 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
A. alicae (Australian Areca Palm) · A. catecha (Betel-Nut Palm) · A. catechu (Areca Palm) · A. catechu var. alba (Golden Betel-Nut Palm) · A. catechu 'Dwarf' (Dwarf Betel-Nut Palm) · A. concinna (Areca Palm) · A. costulata (Palm) · A. gracilis (Indian Areca Palm) · A. guppyana (Sacred Palm) · A. hutchinsoniana (Areca Palm) · A. ipot (Ipot Palm) · A. lutescens (Champagne Palm (As H Indica)) · A. macrocalyx (Dwarf Bettle Nut Palm) · A. macrocarpa (Palm) · A. triandra (Palm) · A. vestiaria (Orange Crownshaft Palm) · A. vestiaria 'Maroon' (Orange Crownshaft Palm)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 31, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 606083
Footnotes
- Kamal A. Malik "Areca". in Flora of Pakistan Page 3. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
