Family:
Arecaceae Bercht. & J.Presl
Genus:
Areca L.

Areca catechu L.

This species is accepted, and its native range is Philippines. It is used as a poison, a medicine and invertebrate food, has environmental uses and social uses and for fuel and food.

[UNAL]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
catechu

[FTEA]

Palmae, John Dransfield. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1994

Morphology General Habit
Solitary palm; stem to 15 m. or more, slightly swollen near the base, to 25 cm. in diameter above, pale grey-brown below, rich dark green above in younger parts, with prominent leaf scars 15–20 cm. distant.
Morphology Leaves
Crown shaft to 1 m. or more in length, wider than the trunk, bearing a crown of 8–10 leaves. Leaf-sheath 60–80 cm. long, dark green; leaf to 2 m. long, with petiole to 15 cm. only; leaflets rich dark green, ± 15 on each side of the rachis, densely crowded, rather untidy, tending to droop somewhat at the tips, with 3 or more folds, often tattering at the tips in age, at the base 40–50 cm. long, in mid-leaf ± 70 cm. long, at the leaf tip 15–25 cm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence erect at first; prophyll thin, to 60 cm. long, 25 cm. wide, pale yellow-green when young and newly exposed, rapidly splitting, drying and falling; peduncle to 20 cm. long by 5 cm. wide; rachillae ± 30 cm. long, stiff, erect or spreading, pale creamy yellow, bearing ivory-white flowers along the lower side only.
sex Male
Male flowers ± 5 mm. long; sepals free, minute, unequal, ± 1 mm. long by 1 mm. wide; petals 3, valvate, ± 5 mm. long by 2 mm. wide, somewhat sinuous; stamens 6, with short filaments and anthers to 4 mm. long by 0.8 mm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flower with 3 imbricate, triangular sepals ± 1 cm. long by 1.1 cm. wide at base; petals 3, imbricate, ± 1.4 cm. long by 0.9 cm. wide; ovary rounded, ± 8 mm. in diameter; stigmas fleshy, white, glistening at anthesis. Male flowers ± 5 mm. long; sepals free, minute, unequal, ± 1 mm. long by 1 mm. wide; petals 3, valvate, ± 5 mm. long by 2 mm. wide, somewhat sinuous; stamens 6, with short filaments and anthers to 4 mm. long by 0.8 mm. wide.
sex Female
Female flower with 3 imbricate, triangular sepals ± 1 cm. long by 1.1 cm. wide at base; petals 3, imbricate, ± 1.4 cm. long by 0.9 cm. wide; ovary rounded, ± 8 mm. in diameter; stigmas fleshy, white, glistening at anthesis.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Young fruit green, ripening dirty yellow, orange or brick-red, ± 5 cm. long by 3.5 cm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed globose, flattened at basal end, ± 2 cm. in diameter; endosperm deeply and finely ruminate, the ruminations reddish brown when fresh.
Habitat
Largely coastal, planted here and there for its nut
Distribution
elsewhere commonly cultivated throughout the wetter parts of Asia and Malesia, country of origin unknown K7 P T3 T6 Z    coastal towns, Amani

[UPFC]
Distribution
Elevation range: 400–1600 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Colombian departments: Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca.
Habit
Tree.

[CPLC]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 400 - 1600 m.
Morphology General Habit
Árbol

[UPFC]
Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Fuel
Used for fuels.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Invertebrate Food
Used as invertebrate food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
Use Poisons
Poisons.
Use Social
Social uses.

Native to:

Philippines

Introduced into:

Andaman Is., Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Is., China South-Central, Comoros, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Fiji, Hainan, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Jawa, Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Marianas, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Puerto Rico, Santa Cruz Is., Society Is., Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Vanuatu, Vietnam

English
Betel Nut Palm

Areca catechu L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
May 21, 1980 de Vogel, E. [3266], Indonesia K000525785 No
Noblick, L. [5180], Indonesia K000525791 No
s.coll. [Cat. no. 8597] K001125935 Yes

First published in Sp. Pl.: 1189 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
  • Choudhary, R.K., Srivastava, R.C., Das, A.K. & Lee, J. (2012). Floristic diversity assessment and vegetation analysis of Upper Siang district of eastern Himalaya in North East India. Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy 42: 222-246.
  • Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.
  • Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 1-529. MIM, Deurne.
  • Heatubun, C.D., Dransfield, J., Flynn, T., Tjitrosoedirdjo, S.S., Mogea, J.P. & Baker, W.J. (2012). A monograph of the betel nut palms (Areca: Arecaceae) of East Malesia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 168: 147-173.
  • Henderson, A. (2009). Palms of Southern Asia: 1-197. Princeton university press, Princeton and Oxford.
  • Meyer, J.-Y., Lavergne, C. & Hodel, D.R. (2008). Time bombs in gardens: invasive ornamental palms in tropical islands, with emphasis on French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean) and the Mascarenes (Indian Ocean). Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 52: 23-35.
  • Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.
  • Powling, A. (2009). The palms of Buton, Indonesia, an island in Wallacea. Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 53: 84-01.
  • Takeuchi, W. (2005). Floristic notes from a holocene successional environment in Papuasia. Harvard Papers in Botany 10: 95-116.
  • Watling, D. (2005). Palms of the Fiji Islands: 1-191. Environmental Consultants (Fiji) Ltd., Suva.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Literature

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
  • Barthelat, F. (2019). La flore illustrée de Mayotte: 1-687. Biotope éditions.
  • Choudhary, R.K., Srivastava, R.C., Das, A.K. & Lee, J. (2012). Floristic diversity assessment and vegetation analysis of Upper Siang district of eastern Himalaya in North East India. Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy 42: 222-246.
  • Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.
  • Heatubun, C.D., Dransfield, J., Flynn, T., Tjitrosoedirdjo, S.S., Mogea, J.P. & Baker, W.J. (2012). A monograph of the betel nut palms (Areca: Arecaceae) of East Malesia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 168: 147-173.
  • Meyer, J.-Y., Lavergne, C. & Hodel, D.R. (2008). Time bombs in gardens: invasive ornamental palms in tropical islands, with emphasis on French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean) and the Mascarenes (Indian Ocean). Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 52: 23-35.
  • Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.
  • Powling, A. (2009). The palms of Buton, Indonesia, an island in Wallacea. Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 53: 84-01.
  • Stutz, L.-C. (1982). Herborisation 1981 aux îles Maldives. Candollea 37: 599-631.
  • Takeuchi, W. (2005). Floristic notes from a holocene successional environment in Papuasia. Harvard Papers in Botany 10: 95-116.
  • Watling, D. (2005). Palms of the Fiji Islands: 1-191. Environmental Consultants (Fiji) Ltd., Suva.

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Cámara-Leret, R., & Dennehy, Z. (2019). Information gaps in indigenous and local knowledge for science-policy assessments. Nature Sustainability 2:736-741.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • RBG, Kew (2021). Kew Economic Botany Collection. https://ecbot.science.kew.org/
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • C.H. Wright in Flora of Tropical Africa 8: 99 (1901).
  • J.P.M. Brenan, Check-lists of the Forest Trees and Shrubs of the British Empire no. 5, part II, Tanganyika Territory p. 397 (1949).
  • L., Sp. Pl.: 1189 (1753).
  • R. O. Williams, Useful and Ornamental Plants in Zanzibar and Pemba p. 130 (1949).
  • Warb. in Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete, Theile C: 131 (1895).

  • Art and Illustrations in Digifolia

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible

    ColPlantA 2021. Published on the Internet at http://colplanta.org
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    Common Names from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Living Collection https://www.kew.org/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    ColPlantA database
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0