Hyphaene is a genus of Arecaceae native to Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent.[ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families][ Kew Palms Checklist: Hyphaene ][Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.]
The genus includes the Doum palm ( H. thebaica). They are unusual among palms in having regular naturally branched trunks; most other palms are single-stemmed from the ground. In Swahili, it is called "koma".
Species
-
Hyphaene compressa H.Wendl. - eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Mozambique
-
Hyphaene coriacea Gaertn. - eastern Africa from South Africa; Madagascar; Juan de Nova Island
-
Hyphaene dichotoma (J.White Dubl. ex Nimmo) Furtado - India, Sri Lanka
-
Hyphaene guineensis Schumach. & Thonn. - western and central Africa from Liberia to Angola
-
Hyphaene macrosperma H.Wendl. - Benin
-
Hyphaene petersiana Klotzsch ex Mart. - southern and eastern Africa from South Africa to Tanzania
-
Hyphaene reptans Becc. - Somalia, Kenya, Yemen
-
Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. - northeastern, central and western Africa from Egypt to Somalia and west to Senegal and Mauritania; Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen)
