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Phoenix
Family: Arecaceae
Phoenix image
Edward Gilbert
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Scott Zona in Flora of North America (vol. 22)
Stems solitary or clustered, erect or ascending [subterranean], slender to massive, often clothed in old leaf bases. Leaves: sheath fibers soft; petiole not split at base, armed, base not split, not forming crownshaft; blade pinnate; plication induplicate; segments lanceolate, in 1 or more planes; apices acute; basal segments modified into stout spines. Inflorescences axillary within crown of leaves, paniculate, ascending, much shorter than leaves, with 1 order of branching, alike in staminate and pistillate plants; prophyll often caducous, conspicuous, becoming boat-shaped, short; peduncular bracts absent; rachillae glabrous. Staminate flowers borne singly along rachillae; calyx cupulate, 3-lobed; petals 3, free, valvate; stamens 6, free; pistillode inconspicuous or absent. Pistillate flowers borne singly on rachillae; calyx cupulate, 3-lobed; petals 3, imbricate, free; staminodial ring cupulate or deeply 6-lobed; pistils 3 (only 1 developing), distinct; stigmas small. Fruits drupes, berrylike, fleshy; exocarp blackish brown, smooth; mesocarp fleshy or fibrous; endocarp papery. Seeds 1, elongate; endosperm homogeneous; embryo lateral [basal]; eophyll undivided, lanceolate. xn = 18.

Several species of Phoenix are cultivated as ornamentals in Florida and California, although identification can be difficult since because the species are dioecious and apparently hybridize with great ease. Phoenix dactylifera Linnaeus, the date palm, is grown as a commercial crop in southern California and Arizona and as an ornamental palm in Florida, but it seems noninvasive. It can be recognized by its massive trunk (eventually bearing basal offshoots) and its stiff, ascending, glaucous leaves. In Florida, P. roebelenii O'Brien (pygmy date palm), with its solitary trunk less than 15 cm in diam., is also cultivated as an ornamental although it does not seem to escape. Other species of Phoenix are occasionally cultivated in warm parts of the United States. Elements of cultivated species of Phoenix entering the flora may be of uncertain parentage.

Two species, Phoenix canariensis and P. reclinata, have escaped and are sporadically naturalized in southern Florida and, to a much lesser extent, in California. Phoenix dactylifera is reportedly naturalized in California (E. McClintock 1993), but I have seen no specimens.

Species within checklist: ASU - BIO 313 - Flora of Arizona campus plants 2018
Phoenix acaulis
Images
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Phoenix caespitosa
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Phoenix canariensis
Image of Phoenix canariensis
Map not
Available
Phoenix dactylifera
Image of Phoenix dactylifera
Map not
Available
Phoenix humilis
Image of Phoenix humilis
Map not
Available
Phoenix loureirii
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not available
Map not
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Phoenix loureiroi
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not available
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Available
Phoenix paludosa
Image of Phoenix paludosa
Map not
Available
Phoenix pusilla
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not available
Map not
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Phoenix reclinata
Image of Phoenix reclinata
Map not
Available
Phoenix roebelenii
Image of Phoenix roebelenii
Map not
Available
Phoenix roebelinii
Image of Phoenix roebelinii
Map not
Available
Phoenix rupicola
Images
not available
Map not
Available
Phoenix sylvestris
Image of Phoenix sylvestris
Map not
Available
Phoenix zeylanica
Images
not available
Map not
Available

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MG-70-19-0057-19].
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