Arecaceae

Abstract

[Extract] Small to tall plants, molloecious or dioecious, polygamous, polygamodioecious, polygamoinonoecious, and hapaxanthic or pleonanthic. Stems solitary or clustered, acaulescent (not in Australia), erect or climbing, slender to stout; leaf scars annular. Leaves forming a terminal crown, palmate, costapalmate, paripinnate, imparipinnate, bipinnate, or entire. Inflorescence axillary, infrafoliar, interfoliar or suprafoliar, spicate or paniculate, bearing papery to woody, deciduous or persistent bracts; single prophyllar bract always present, proximal on inflorescence, bicarinate, variously shaped; peduncular bracts O- many, bicarinate or tubular, distal to prophyll, variously shaped. Flowers unisexual or bisexual, ebracteate; perianth of usually dissimilar sepals and petals, usually trimerous; segments fused or free, valvate or imbricate, usually thick textured and dull-coloured; stamens 3, 4, 6 or numerous; gynoecium apocarpous with 1-3 carpels or syncarpolls with 3 or sometimes more locules, or pseudo-monomerous; ovary superior, smooth or covered in imbricate scales. Fruit a berry or drupe, small to large, 1- 3- seeded, or to 8 seeded (not in Australia); epicarp smooth, warty, corky (not in Australia), scaly or spiny (not in Australia), usually brightly coloured; mesocarp fibrous, fleshy or dry, or obsolescent; endocarp thin, thick or absent. Seed adhering or not adhering to endocarp, sometimes sarcotestal; endosperm ruminate (due to infolding of seed coat) or homogeneous, rarely with central cavity; embryo small. Eophyll simple, bifid or compound.