Palm
Palm (plant), common name for a family of woody flowering plants widespread in the tropics. They are of great economic importance because of the food, fiber, and oil they provide, and because of their ornamental uses. The family is the only member of its order and contains about 2,600 species, making it the fourth largest among the monocots , after the grasses , lilies , and orchids . Palms have a characteristic growth form: a single, unbranched trunk topped with a tuft of fanlike or featherlike leaves. The flowers are borne in axillary clusters (inflorescences), and a large, interwoven mass of roots occurs at the trunk base. The trunks of palms, like those of other monocots, have no secondary growth; thus, the diameter of the trunk does not increase with the age of the tree, as in dicots . The growing tip of the trunk instead is built up into a large mass in the seedling stage, and maintains that broad width as the trunk matures. Bundles of vascular tissue are scattered throughout the...