Description of the family:
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, usually very large and in terminal rosettes, with a sheathing base; petiole or rhachis often prickly; lamina pinnate or costapalmate. Plants dioecious (in ours). Inflorescences axillary, simple to paniculate. Flowers usually small, unisexual or bisexual. Calyx and corolla usually in whorls of 3. Fruit usually a drupe; seed usually 1.
Worldwide:
201 genera and 2,650 species, tropical (but few in Africa) and warm.
Zimbabwe:
4 genera and 5 taxa.
- Borassus L.
- Hyphaene Gaertn.
- Phoenix L.
- Raphia P. Beauv.