''Thrinax'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the palm family, native to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. It is closely related to the genera ''

Coccothrinax ''Coccothrinax'' is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae. There are more than 50 species described in the genus, plus many synonyms and subspecies. A new species (''Coccothrinax spirituana'') was described as recently as 2017. Many ''Coccothr ...

'', ''

Hemithrinax ''Hemithrinax'' is a genus of palms that is endemic to eastern Cuba. It comprises three species and one variety and was previously included within the genus ''Thrinax''. * '' Hemithrinax compacta'' (Griseb. & H.Wendl.) M.Gómez - Sierra de Nipe ...

'' and ''

Zombia ''Zombia antillarum'', commonly known as the zombie palm, is a species of palm tree and the only member of the genus ''Zombia''. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti) in the Greater Antilles. Usuall ...

''. Flowers are small, bisexual and are borne on small stalks.

Taxonomy

In the first edition of ''

Genera Palmarum ''Genera Palmarum'' is a botany reference book that gives a detailed overview of the systematic biology of the palm family ( Arecaceae). The first edition of ''Genera Palmarum'' was published in 1987. The second edition was published in 2008, with ...

'' (1987),

Natalie Uhl Natalie Whitford Uhl (1919–2017) was an American botanistIPNI: Natalie Whitf ...

and

John Dransfield John Dransfield (born 1945) is an honorary research fellow and former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom, as well as being an authority on the phylogenetic classification of palms. Dransfield has written or ...

placed the genus ''Thrinax'' in

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Coryphoideae The Coryphoideae is one of five subfamilies in the palm family, Arecaceae. It contains all of the genera with palmate leaves, excepting ''Mauritia'', ''Mauritiella'' and ''Lepidocaryum,'' all of subfamily Calamoideae, tribe Lepidocaryeae, subtr ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Corypheae Corypheae is a tribe of palm trees in the subfamily Coryphoideae. In previous classifications, tribe Corypheae included four subtribes: Coryphinae, Livistoninae, Thrinacinae and Sabalinae, but recent phylogenetic studies have led to the genera ...

and subtribe Thrinacinae. Subsequent

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analyses showed that the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

and

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

members of Thrinacinae are not closely related and as a consequence, ''Thrinax'' and related genera were transferred into their own tribe,

Cryosophileae Cryosophileae is a tribe of palms in the subfamily Coryphoideae. The tribe ranges from southern South America, through Central America, into Mexico and the Caribbean. It includes New World genera formerly included in the tribe Thrinacinae, wh ...

. In 2008, '' Leucothrinax morrisii'' (formerly ''T. morrisii'') was split from ''Thrinax'' after

studies showed that its inclusion in ''Thrinax'' would render that genus

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

Species

''Thrinax'' consists of three species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q142326 Arecaceae genera Trees of the Caribbean Taxa named by Olof Swartz