Coryphoideae in the context of "Wallichia"

Phoenix is a genus of 14 species of palms, native to an area starting from the Canary Islands in the west, across northern and central Africa, to the extreme southeast of Europe (Crete), and continuing throughout southern Asia, from Anatolia east to southern China and Malaysia. The diverse habitats they occupy include swamps, deserts, and mangrove sea coasts. Most Phoenix species originate in semi-arid regions, but usually occur near high groundwater levels, rivers, or springs. The genus is unusual among members of subfamily Coryphoideae in having pinnate, rather than palmate leaves; tribe Caryoteae also have pinnate or bipinnate leaves.The palms were more numerous and widespread in the past than they are at present. Some Phoenix palms have become naturalised in other parts of the world; in particular, the date palm's long history of cultivation means that escaped plants in the past have long-since become ingrained into the native ecosystems of countries far from its original range in the Middle East.

Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of palms (Arecaceae) in various genera with leaves that are palmately lobed (rather than pinnately compound). Most are members of the subfamily Coryphoideae, though a few genera in subfamily Calamoideae (Mauritia, Mauritiella and Lepidocaryum) also have palmate leaves. Fan palm genera include:

• Bismarckia
• Borassus
• Coccothrinax
• Copernicia
• Hyphaene
• Licuala
• Pritchardia
• Rhapidophyllum
• Rhapis
• Sabal
• Thrinax
• Trachycarpus
• Trithrinax

Fan palm can also be used as part of the common name of particular genera or species. Among the palms commonly known as fan palms are:

Caryoteae is a tribe within the palm family Arecaceae, distributed across Southeast Asia, from southern India and Sri Lanka east to Vanuatu and northernmost Queensland, Australia. It was historically classified under the subfamily Arecoideae due to its inflorescences, which resemble those of the tribe Iriarteeae, and its flowers arranged in triads (with two male flowers and one central female flower), a common trait in Arecoideae. However, phylogenetic studies based on DNA repeatedly link Caryoteae to subfamily Coryphoideae. Caryoteae do have leaves with induplicate folds, a feature found in most Coryphoid palms, but unlike most Coryphoideae, the leaves are pinnate (Arenga, Wallichia) or bipinnate (Caryota). Phoenix is the only other Coryphoid genus with induplicate, pinnate leaves.