597.000 Hyophorbe Gaertn.

Solitary stout medium sized palms. Fronds deciduous; crownshaft present; leaflets with a single fold, pointed. Inflorescence below the leaves, upward curving in bud, much branched; 5-10 enclosing bracts. Flowers in lines along the branch. Fruit round or elliptic, red, brown or black; flesh thin.

Derivation of name: from the Greek Hyos - pig, phorbe – food; referring to the fleshy food being eaten by pigs.

Worldwide: Five species from the Mascarene islands, where all are now almost extinct.

Zimbabwe: 3 cultivated taxa.