Palm tree
Arecaceae (formerly Palmae or Palmaceae) is the Palm Family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order Arecales. The type member of this family is the areca palm, the fruit of which is chewed with the betel leaf and often confused with it. Rattan and coconut also belong to this family.
Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine.
Economically important genera include:
See list of Arecaceae genera for a complete listing.
This entry incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernization.
Palm tree - (Heb. tamar), the date-palm characteristic of Palestine. It is described as "flourishing" (Ps. 92:12), tall (Cant. 7:7), "upright" (Jer. 10:5). Its branches are a symbol of victory (Rev. 7:9). "Rising with slender stem 40 or 50, at times even 80, feet aloft, its only branches, the feathery, snow-like, pale-green fronds from 6 to 12 feet long, bending from its top, the palm attracts the eye wherever it is seen." Tadmor in the desert was called by the Greeks and Romans Palmyra, i.e., "the city of palms." The finest specimens of this tree grew at Jericho (Deut. 34:3) and Jerusalem the crowds took palm branches, and went forth to meet him, crying, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:8; John 12:13). (See date.)
From Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
