Palm is a group of trees, vines, and shrubs that typically grow in warm and wet climates, especially in the tropics. Palms are among the most important plants in tropical regions because they provide food, drink, fibers, and building materials for the people. Palms are most diverse and most common in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and in tropical America. They grow wild as far north as Korea, Japan, and the states of North Carolina and California in the United States; and as far south as Argentina, central Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa. They also are cultivated on plantations in many tropical regions. Some palms live more than 100 years.
Palms are an ancient group of plants. Fossils of palm leaves have been found that date from the later part of the Cretaceous Period, which ended about 65 million years ago. Palms once grew in all parts of the world, and palm fossils have been found as far north as Greenland.
Kinds of palms.
There are hundreds of kinds of palms, and they vary greatly in size and the kind of flowers, leaves, and fruits they produce. Most palms grow straight and tall. But the trunks of some palms may lie on the ground. Some have most of the trunk buried in the soil. The rattan palms found in the jungles of Southeast Asia have slender, vinelike stems from 10 to 250 feet (3 to 76 meters) long. The stems may trail along the jungle floor or climb high in the trees. Most palms have a single trunk or stem. But many have clustered trunks that grow from the same root base.
The trunk
is usually straight and round and from 4 to 24 inches (10 to 61 centimeters) thick. But some palms have trunks that are no thicker than a pencil, while others have trunks that are 5 feet (1.5 meters) thick. The trunk may range from a few inches or centimeters to well over 100 feet (30 meters) tall. The trunks of the larger palm trees grow from 1 to 4 feet (30 to 120 centimeters) a year. The trunk may have rough or smooth bark, and some have thorns. Only a few palms have branches growing from the trunk. A few kinds have a strawlike “skirt” of dead leaves that hangs down along the trunk. Most palms have their fanlike or featherlike leaves clustered at the top of the trunk.
The leaves
vary greatly in size and appearance. The smallest leaves are less than 1 foot (30 centimeters) long. Most of the fanlike leaves are from 2 to 4 feet (60 to 120 centimeters) wide, and the featherlike types may be 20 feet (6 meters) long and from 1 to 4 feet (30 to 120 centimeters) wide. Two types produce the largest leaves. The talipot palm has fan-shaped leaves that may be 15 feet (4.6 meters) wide. The raffia palm’s leaves may be 65 feet (20 meters) long and 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide. Mature leaves remain on a palm from one to nine years.
The fruits
differ greatly in size and shape. Some fruits are no larger than a pea. The huge fruit of the double coconut palm may grow as large as 2 feet (60 centimeters) in diameter. The fruit of the palm contains from one to seven seeds. The flesh of the fruit may be soft as in the date, or firm and threadlike, as in the coconut. The seed may be hard, as in the date. Only rarely is it soft, or even hollow and filled with “milk,” as in the coconut. The double coconut and the true coconut have the largest of all known seeds. The male and female flowers of many kinds of palms are on different trees and depend on people, wind, or insects for fertilization.
Products of palms.
Palms provide ornament, shade, building materials—both timbers and thatch—and fuel. Fibers for making ropes and brooms and for caulking (making watertight) ships are made from the palm. Strips of leaves are woven into mats, hats, and baskets. Oil for food and lighting comes from several species, particularly the oil palm. The sugary sap of such palms as the palmyra palm can be made into food, sweet drinks, and intoxicating beverages, such as arak, also spelled arrack. The starch of palms is used for food. The seeds are made into buttons and carvings. The seeds of the betel palm are chewed as a stimulant. A few palms have poisonous seeds.
The palm is most important to the people who live in the tropics. But people in other parts of the world also depend on palms for many useful products. The dried oily meat of the coconut is used to add flavor to cakes. Its rich oil is used in soap, salad oils, cooking fats, and margarine. Oil from the oil palm is used in cosmetics and in pharmaceutical creams and ointments (see Palm oil). Dates are a familiar product of the date palm. Sago is a starch taken from palm trunks.
Many baskets and chair bottoms are woven from strips of palm leaves. The stems of the rattan palm are used in making furniture. Raffia is made of thin layers of cells stripped from the leaves of a Madagascar palm. It is used by children in basket making at school. Wax from the leaves of the carnauba palm of Brazil is used in such products as shoe polish (see Carnauba wax).
