Trunk Structure
palm include species with a single tree trunk or those with bunch or clumping stems . They may be straight or curving , legato or spined or covered in thatch . Most palms also possess leaf scars somewhere on their trunks , often toward their tiptop . A medallion grow from the tip or vertex of the automobile trunk , an area often visit the crownshaft , from where new fronds emerge . Trunks and stems do not rise like true Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree : palms increase their girth by expanding the live cell tissue , not by produce new wood like oak or maple tree .
Leaf Characteristics
Among the fastest means to narrow down the recognition of a palm tree is the material body of the leaf . Long , featherlike fronds are known as " pinnate , " while fan- or paw - shaped fronds are call " palm-shaped . " Segments pass on both types of fronds , sometimes so profoundly that the frond look shredded , or conversely lacking any section so as to look like monumental flavorless umbrella . Examine the fronds closely looking for physical features that help secernate between different palms . Spines , waxy or powdery coverings , hairs , or hairy filament may grow on the frond stem . In palmate - leave palms , look at the center of the frond . Sometimes a small and rounded beaklike center exists , called a hastula . Color of frond also provide insight into identifying the palm tree specie .
Flowers
All palms blossom . They do not calculate heavy and showy individually , but collectively form on a furcate prow called an flowering . The efflorescence typically develops when weather is warm and protrudes from the crownshaft above , below or among the spate of frond . The tiny flowers may or may not be fragrant and compass in color unremarkably from blank to jaundiced . Overall , the feathery efflorescence is ornamental as it counterpoint the shape and colors of the fronds .
Fruits
After the winding or insects pollinate the tiny heyday on the anthesis , each prime ’s ovary ripens into a soft or hard fruit that can display a scaly , smooth or spiny hide . Size and semblance of these fruits differ among laurel wreath species and may be the best way to definitively distinguish palms that look like each other in most other forcible feature . An good example includes two types of thatch palm tree : Coccothrinax palm bear disgraceful yield , while Thrinax thenar farm off-white fruit .
Palmlike Imposters
Even though mutual names may intimate a works is a decoration , their identity unwrap themselves most notably when they flower , or do n’t flower . Cycads in especial resemble palms since they have feathery leaves and grow in tropical regions . Cycads also bear many trick - names , such as the sago palm ( Cycas revoluta ) or virgin palm ( Dioon edule ) , but they do not bloom . Cycads produce cones , like spruce and pine tree trees . Other palmlike flora with alien - look foliage or woody trunks include aloes , yuccas and other tropicals like the ponytail palm ( Beaucarnea recurvata ) , none of which is a fellow member of the palm phratry .
References
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