''Adonidia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family Arecaceae, native to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

History of the genus

The genus was originally described in 1919. In 1957, it was transferred to the genus ''

Veitchia ''Veitchia'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It contains the following species, all native to islands in the Pacific Ocean (Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consi ...

''. In 2008, further study returned it to its own genus. Thus, some older photos from the 1957-2008 period use ''Veitchia'' instead of ''Adonidia''. Another similar palm, the genus '' Manjekia maturbongsii'' was first described in 2012 as ''Adonidia maturbongsii'',W.J.Baker & Heatubun, Palms (1999+) 56: 134 (2012). but in 2014 it was moved to its own genus, '' Manjekia''.

Current status

At present there are two recognized species.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Adonidia''
/ref> The first, and better known, is the Manila palm ('' Adonidia merrillii''), which is native to the Philippines (

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

and

Danjugan Island Danjugan Island is a island under the jurisdiction of Cauayan, Negros Occidental, Philippines. The island is under the care of The Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PRRCFI) which aims to promote awareness on biodivers ...

) and is reportedly naturalized in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. The second is '' Adonidia dransfieldii'', native to

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

in Borneo and first described in 2015. Some palms sold in retail outlets as "''Adonidia''" are in fact Alexander palms, which are similar but even thinner. Image:Fruits of Royal Palm.JPG, Fruits of a dwarf royal palm or Christmas palm (''Adonidia merrillii'') photographed in Ghana Image:ArecaceaeDSC9180 01.jpg, Palm and fruits. Cultivar, Bahia, Brazil

References

External links

Ptychospermatinae Arecaceae genera Taxa named by Odoardo Beccari Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Areceae-stub