540.000 Livistona R. Br.

Palms, small to large; stems solitary erect, slender, rarely robust; initially covered with persistent leaf sheaths; ringed conspicuously or obscurely with leaf scars. Leaves with petiole not split at base, usually armed; adaxial hastula conspicuous; lamina palmate or costapalmate, plication induplicate. Inflorescence axillary within crown of leaves; paniculate with 3-5 orders of branching; peduncular bracts many, obscuring rhachis. Flowers borne singly along rachillae sometimes in small groups. Fruit drupe, exocarp blackish, smooth, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp bony. Seeds globose or ellipsoid.

Worldwide: 25 species in Africa, Asia, Australia and Pacific Islands.

Zimbabwe: 4 cultivated taxa.