Palm Trees Biogeography

1. Palm Trees Biogeography

2. By: Ginger Burns

3. Scientific Classification Arecaceae or Palmae (also known by the name Palmaceae, • Kingdom: • Plantae • Division: • Magnoliophyta • Class: • Liliopsida • Order: • Arecales • Family: • ArecaceaeSchultz-Schultzenstein

4. Genera and Species • There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical orsubtropical regions of the Earth.

5. . . Distribution . Whether shrubs, trees or vines palms are limited to two methods of growth. Solitary Growth Clusters And Occasionally, a plant is very often clustering with the occasional solitary member or the converse. This grove of the native species Washingtonia filifera in Palm Canyon, California is growing alongside a stream running through the desert.

6. Morphology • They have large evergreen leaves that are either palmately ('fan-leaved') or pinnately ('feather-leaved') compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. • The leaves have a tubular sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity • The flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual • 4. The sepals and petals usually number three each and may be distinct or joined at the base. The stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base 5. The fruit is usually a single-seededdrupe[5], but some genera (e.g. Salacca) may contain two or more seeds in each fruit.

7. Taxonomy • Palms are a monophyletic group of plants, meaning that the group consists of a common ancestor and all its descendants

8. Arecaceae is the first modern family of monocots that is clearly represented in the fossil record

9. Range and habitat • The vast majority of palms exist in the tropics. • Diversity is highest in wet, lowland tropical forests, especially in ecological "hotspots“ • Madagascar, which has more endemic palms than the entire continental Africa. Coconut palm trees in Mumbai, India Colombia may have the highest number of palm species in one country.

10. Range and habitat World map with the tropics highlighted in red

11. Range and Habitat • It is estimated that only 130 palm species grow naturally beyond the tropics, most of which grow in the subtropics • Palms inhabit a variety of habitats

12. Arecaceae-is a Pacific genus of uncertain geographic origin However since all related species classified in the subfamily Cocoideae have a South American origin (except perhaps the coconut, Cocos nucifera), It is thought that Sympatric speciation Took place Sympatric speciation is more strictly defined as the emergence of two species from a population in which mating has been random with respect to the place of birth of the mating partners2. Origin of Species

13. Origin of Species of the Coconut Palm • Comparatively little is known about the origin and early distribution of the coconut palm, probably because it was so widely spread throughout the tropical areas of the world so many years ago. It is believed to be native to the Malay Archipelago or the South Pacific.

14. Country of Origin : Reunion Acanthophoenix crinita 'Dark Spine Palm'

15. Country of Origin : Reunion Extremely rare Palm Acanthophoenix sp. tripaludis

16. Beccariophoenix madagascariensis South Form Country of Origin : Madagascar

17. Bismarckia nobilis [ Medemia nobilis ] 'Bismarck Probably the most beautiful palm !

18. Global Distribution

19. Dispersal • Passive Dispersal Seeds float in the water or drop to the ground (clumping May occur)

20. Sweepstakes Route • By chance the seeds are dropped in the water and carried over long distances. • Some Arecaceae Seeds can not live in salt water and those plants are isolated to specific islands or regions.