Hyphaene Explained

Hyphaene is a genus of palms native to Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The genus includes the Doum palm (H. thebaica). They are unusual among palms in having regular naturally branched trunks; most other palms are single-stemmed from the ground. In Swahili, it is called "koma".

Species

• Hyphaene compressa H.Wendl. - eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Mozambique
• Hyphaene coriacea Gaertn. - eastern Africa from South Africa; Madagascar; Juan de Nova Island
• Hyphaene dichotoma (J.White Dubl. ex Nimmo) Furtado - India, Sri Lanka
• Hyphaene guineensis Schumach. & Thonn. - western and central Africa from Liberia to Angola
• Hyphaene macrosperma H.Wendl. - Benin
• Hyphaene petersiana Klotzsch ex Mart. - southern and eastern Africa from South Africa to Tanzania
• Hyphaene reptans Becc. - Somalia, Kenya, Yemen
• Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. - northeastern, central and western Africa from Egypt to Somalia and west to Senegal and Mauritania; Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen)

Notes and References

1. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=101351 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
2. http://www.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do?plantName=Hyphaene&page=quickSearch Kew Palms Checklist: Hyphaene
3. Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.