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

Zambia: 1 cultivated taxon.

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

SpeciesContent
guineensis Jacq.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Elaeis:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Elaeis
Flora of Malawi: Elaeis
Flora of Mozambique: Elaeis
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Elaeis
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Elaeis

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Elaeis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Elaeis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Elaeis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Elaeis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Elaeis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Elaeis
JSTOR Plant Science: Elaeis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Elaeis
Plants of the World Online: Elaeis
Tropicos: Elaeis
Wikipedia: Elaeis

Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Cultivated plants: genus page: Elaeis.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/cult/genus.php?genus_id=1885, retrieved 29 March 2024

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