''Caryota'' is a genus of

palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm ( ...

. They are often known as fishtail palms because of the shape of their leaves. There are about 13 species native to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

( China,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, etc.), northern Australia, and the South Pacific.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> One of the more widely known species is '' Caryota urens'', the flowers of which are used to make one type of jaggery (an unrefined sugar), and also to make

palm wine Palm wine, known by several local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in va ...

. ''

Caryota mitis ''Caryota mitis'', known as the clustering fishtail palm or fishtail palm, is a species of palm native to Tropical Asia from India to Java to southern China, now sparingly naturalized in southern Florida and in parts of Africa and Latin America. ...

'' is native to

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, but has become an invasive introduced species in the US state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. They are also one of the few Arecaceae with

bipinnate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

foliage. Many grow in mountainous areas and are adapted to warm mediterranean climates as well as subtropical and tropical climates.Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Fishtail palms contain

raphide Raphides (pronounced /ˈræfɪˌdiz/, singular raphide /ˈreɪfʌɪd/ or raphis) are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate (prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite ( dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), fo ...

Species

Gallery

File:Fishtail palm.JPG, Fishtail palm at

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

File:Fishtail palm1.JPG, Fishtail palm at

File:Fishtail-palm-flower-detail.jpg, Fishtail palm flower in detail. File:Fishtail palm at Chandigarh.jpg, Fishtail palm at Chandigarh File:Fishtail palm - close up.jpg, Fishtail palm - close up File:Leaves of Fishtail palm tree.jpg, Leaves of fishtail palm tree File:Fishtail palm - detail.jpg, Fishtail palm - detail

References

External links

USDA Plants ProfileGRIN Species listPalm Guide
{{Taxonbar, from=Q513475 Arecaceae genera Flora of Indomalesia Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Oceania Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus