656.000 Elaeis Jacq. - Oil palms

Description of the genus

Monoecious trees. Leaves large; petiole base armed with sharp teeth; lamina pinnate; leaflets Λ-shaped in cross-section; lower leaflets with spine-like midribs. Inflorescences mostly unisexual, branched with a short peduncle, the flower-bearing branches very crowded and congested among the leaf sheaths. Male flowers solitary; sepals 3; petals 3; stamens 6, united basally. Female flowers much larger than male, usually forming a triad with 2 abortive male flowers; sepals 3; petals 3; stigmas 3, fleshy and conspicuous; ovary 3-locular. Fruit shiny, with a conspicuous 3-pored stone.

Derivation of name: Derived from elaion, the Greek word for oil

Worldwide: 2 species; one in Africa and Madagascar, the other in eastern S America

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.

No image yet

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
guineensis Jacq.Image

Other sources of information about Elaeis:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Elaeis
Flora of Mozambique: Elaeis
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Elaeis
Flora of Zambia: cultivated Elaeis

External websites:

ePIC (electronic Plant Information Center): Elaeis
Flora Zambesiaca web site: Elaeis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network) taxonomy for plants report for Elaeis
Wikipedia: Elaeis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Elaeis
Kew Herbarium catalogue: Elaeis

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-23

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2023). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Elaeis.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=1885, retrieved 24 March 2023

Site software last modified: 12 October 2020 10:30pm (GMT +2)
Terms of use