Palm (coconut) - Palm

Japanese: ヤシ(椰子) - ヤシ

In the narrow sense, it refers to the coconut palm, but in the broad sense, it is a general term for the palm family. The palm family has about 220 genera and 2,500 species, distributed mainly in tropical regions around the world. All are evergreen and woody, and usually have trunks that do not branch or undergo secondary growth, but have large leaves clustered at the end, forming a palm-shaped tree shape. They are also widely cultivated. Some, like the coconut palm, have fruits carried by ocean currents and are distributed in tropical regions around the world, while others, like the St. John's wort, are found only on one island in the Seychelles archipelago in eastern Africa. In addition to the Coconut genus, the Phoenix genus and others are widely distributed around the world. The genera Nipa, Livistoa, Sugarcane, Areca, and Sago are distributed in the tropical regions of Asia, while the Lahia genus is distributed in Africa, and the Imperial and Sabal genuses are distributed in America. In Japan, palm trees, Japanese black pine, Yaeyama palm, and Noyashi palm grow naturally, while palms, palm bamboo, Kannon bamboo, Kentia palm, and Phoenix palms are cultivated. They come in a variety of shapes, with the giant palm having a straight trunk that can reach 40m in height, while the Nipa palm has no above-ground stem and its stem lies underground. The fruits also vary from 25cm in diameter like the Dioscorea palm to around 1cm in diameter like the palm fruit. Palms are as important plants in the tropics as the grass family, and many of them, such as the coconut palm, oil palm, date palm, sago palm, and sugar palm, are used in a variety of ways, not only for food but also as building materials, roadside trees, garden trees, and oil plants.
→ Related topics Houseplants | Tropical plants

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

狭義にはココヤシをさすが，広くはヤシ科植物の総称。ヤシ科には約220属2500種があり，全世界の主として熱帯地方に分布する。すべて常緑，木本(もくほん)性でふつう幹は分枝せず二次肥大生長もせず，先端に大きな葉をむらがってつける，いわゆるヤシ型の樹形をつくる。また栽培も盛ん。ココヤシのように海流によって果実が運ばれ，全世界の熱帯地方に分布するものもあるが，フタゴヤシのようにアフリカ東部のセーシェル諸島中の一島にしか産しないものもある。全世界に広く分布するのはココヤシ属のほかフェニックス属など。アジアの熱帯にはニッパヤシ属，ビロウ属，トウ属，ビンロウ属，サゴヤシ属など，アフリカにはラヒアヤシ属，アメリカにはダイオウヤシ属やサバルヤシ属などが分布。日本にはビロウ，クログツ，ヤエヤマヤシ，ノヤシが自生，シュロ，シュロチク，カンノンチク，ケンチャヤシ，フェニックスなどが栽培される。形態もさまざまでダイオウヤシは高さ40mに達する直幹となるが，ニッパヤシでは地上茎がなく，茎は地中に横たわる。果実もフタゴヤシのように径25cmもあるものから，シュロの果実のように径1cm内外のものまでさまざま。またヤシは熱帯ではイネ科に劣らない重要な植物で，ココヤシ，アブラヤシ，ナツメヤシ，サゴヤシ，サトウヤシなど食用のほか，建築材料，街路樹，庭木，油料植物として多面的に用いられるものも多い。
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