Areca ridleyana Becc. ex Furtado 38. Areca subacaulis Becc. J. Dransf.

TAXONOMIC TREATMENT A RECA L. S P . P L .: 1189 1753. T YPE : A RECA CATECHU L. Mischophloeus Scheff., Ann. Jard. Bot. Boitenzorg 1: 115, 134 1876. Gigliolia Becc., Malesia 1: 171 1877. Pichisermollia H.C. Monteiro, Rodriguesia 28: 195 1976. Description: Solitary or clustering, very small to moderate, acaulescent to erect, unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious palms. S TEM slender to moderate, occasionally stilt-rooted, internodes very short to elongate, leaf scars often conspicuous. L EAVES undivided and pinnately ribbed, with or without an apical notch, or pinnate; sheaths forming a well defined crownshaft with leaves neatly abscising, or rarely crownshaft not well developed when leaves marcescent or sheaths partly open; petiole present or absent, adaxially channelled or rounded, abaxially rounded, glabrous or variously indumentose; leaflets regularly or irregularly arranged, 1–several fold, acute, acuminate or lobed, the lobes corresponding to folds, the apical pair almost always lobed, held in one plane except to one species A. mandacanii in different planes, very rarely A. insignis with basal auricles reflexed across the rachis, blade variously scaly or hairly, transverse veinlets obscure. I NFLORESCENCE erect or pendulous, mostly infrafoliar, rarely interfoliar in acaulescence species with marcescent leaf sheaths e.g. A. jugahpunya, branched to 3 orders basally, very rarely spicate, protandrous or very rarely recorded as protogynous; peduncle very short to long; prophyll thin, membranous, enclosing the inflorescence in the bud, quickly splitting and falling, other bracts very inconspicuous; rachis shorter or longer than the peduncle; rachillae glabrous or variously indumentose; rachilla bracts minute; triads confined to the proximal part of the main axis, or to the proximal part of each order of branching, or rarely to a subdistal part of main axis only; rachillae otherwise bearing solitary or paired staminate flowers arranged spirally, distichously, or in 2 approximate rows on one side of the rachilla, the rachilla tips sometimes devoid of the flowers. S TAMINATE FLOWERS frequently minute, sessile, or with a stalk formed from the receptacle; calyx with 3 distinct, slightly imbricate, triangular sepals or cupular with triangular lobes, corolla with 3 triangular, valvate petals, rarely briefly connate at the base, much longer than the sepals; stamens free or briefly epipetalous, 3, 6, 9, or up to 30 or more, filaments short to elongate, anthers linear or sinuous, sometimes very irregular,