Common Name: PALM FAMILY
Habit: [Subshrub, shrub], tree, evergreen; dioecious (monoecious), or flowers bisexual. Stem: erect [subterranean, creeping, climbing], slender to massive, smooth or covered with fibrous or prickly remains of leaf bases. Leaf: palmately or pinnately dissected or compound, alternate, forming a terminal crown; base sheathing; petiole generally long; blade including leaflets folded lengthwise. Inflorescence: panicle (spike), axillary; peduncle sheathed by 1+ large bracts; flowers many, generally +- sessile. Flower: generally small, +- radial; sepals, petals each generally 3, similar or not, fused at base or free; stamens generally 6; pistils 1, compound, or 3, simple, ovaries superior, if 1, generally 3-chambered, styles free or fused. Fruit: generally a drupe, fleshy or dry. Seed: generally 1.
Genera In Family: 1914 genera, 2500 species: tropics, subtropics. Note: Cultivated worldwide for food, ornamental, building material.
eFlora Treatment Author: Scott Simono
Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin.

Common Name: FAN PALM
Leaf: petiole 1--2 m, generally armed, bases persistent on trunk; blade 1--2 m, generally persistent as brown "skirt," palmately divided nearly to middle, segments 40--60, margins folded upward, with thread-like fibers, tips +- reflexed. Inflorescence: within crown, > leaves, flowers borne singly. Flower: bisexual; calyx lobes +- erect; corolla lobes reflexed, white; pistil 1, ovary 3-lobed. Fruit: drupe, oblong or ovate, black, +- fleshy.
Etymology: (George Washington, 1st president of USA, 1732--1799)
Unabridged Reference: Clarke et al. 2007 Flora of the Santa Ana River and Environs; Henderson et al. 1995 Field guide to the Palms of the Americas; McCurrach 1960 Palms of the World: 264--265; Zona 2000 FNANM 22:105--106