Are palm trees really a tree, or just a very large plant?
Palms are not really trees in the sense of a plant that grows a woody trunk. The stems are made of fibers instead of wood and the plants are more closely related to corn and turf grasses than oak trees. There are more than 2,500 species of palms. They are generally evergreen, shrub-like, or tree-like plants or vines. Most grow as solitary specimens thought there are species that are clustered and a few are branched, prostrate, creeping or climbing. There are many largest plant records found in plant family Arecaceae, the palm family: The largest leaves are found on palms and the great Kosi palm or Raphia australis of Africa bears some of the largest. A West African Raphia has the record for the largest leaf ever measured at more than 82 feet long and 4 feet wide. The largest inflorescence is found on Corypha umbraculifera, aka the Talipot palm of southern India and Sri Lanka. The flower stalk often tops 24 feet long with 10 million flowers. This palm flower is tapped to collect sugary
