AY Honors/Palm Trees/Answer Key

1. Give the general characteristics of the palm tree referring to the following parts:

a. Stem or trunk

A palm trunk are usually a straight, unbranched stem, though rarely the trunk will divide into two branches. Unlike other trees, palms add new growth to the inside of the stem. Other trees add new growth to the outside of the trunk. Thus, on a palm, the living wood is at the heart of the trunk and the old, dead wood is on the outside. In non-palms, the opposite is true.

b. Roots

Palms are monocots, belonging to the same family as grass and bamboo. As such, their roots do not grow much larger once the plant reaches maturity. Roots of dicots, on the other hand (that is, broadleaf plants such as oaks and maples) continue to grow and get fatter as long as the plant lives. Thus, the roots of a dicot will destroy a sidewalk as it heaves up the concrete, while a palm will do no damage.

c. Leaves

Palms 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.

d. Inflorescence or flowers

The inflorescence is a panicle or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity. The flowers are generally small and white, and radially symmetric. 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.

e. Fruits

The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe, but some genera (e.g. Salacca) may contain two or more seeds in each fruit.

References

• International Palm Society