Areca L.

Minute to large, solitary or clustered, unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious palms, almost always with a well-defined crownshaft. Leaves reduplicately pinnate, sometimes flabellate or undivided, often with compound leaflets composed of many folds. Inflorescence axillary, usually infrafoliar but occasionally interfoliar, anthesis usually occurring after leaf fall, branching to 3 orders; prophyll enclosing the inflorescence in bud, splitting and usually falling at anthesis; peduncular bracts absent; rachillae bearing basal triads of flowers, each with 1 central ♀ flower and two lateral ♂ flowers, and distal paired or solitary, 2 ranked or spiral ♂ flowers. Male flower usually opening long before the ♀, often heavily scented, small, usually with 3 free or fused sepals and 3 free acute valvate petals; stamens 3–24 (or more); pistillode present or absent. Female flower much larger than the male, with imbricate rounded sepals and petals; staminode vestiges minute or absent; ovary unilocular, tipped with 3 massive reflexed stigmas, usually with copious nectar at anthesis; ovule 1, basally attached. Fruit varying from very small to large, with stigmatic remains apical; epicarp smooth, often brightly coloured; mesocarp fibrous or fleshy; endocarp hard, somewhat woody, with longitudinal fibres. Seed with ruminate endosperm and basal embryo. Germination adjacent-ligular; seedling leaf bifid.