Taxon: Areca catechu L.

• the 21 historical accession(s) associated with this name.
• Check PlantSearch database of Botanic Gardens Conservation International for possible non-NPGS germplasm.

Common names:

• areca palm   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 16:51.) – English
  
• areca-nut   (Source: CRC MedHerbs ) – English
  
• areca-nut palm   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – English
  
• betel palm   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• betel-nut palm   (Source: Herbs Commerce ed2 ) – English
  
• betelnut   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• catechu   (Source: Hortus 3 ) – English
  
• Indian-nut   (Source: Websters Dict ) – English
  
• Pinang palm   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – English
  
• bin lang   (Source: F ChinaEng ) – Transcribed Chinese
  
• betelpalm   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – Dutch
  
• pinangboom   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – Dutch
  
• aréquier   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• arec cachou   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – French
  
• arec de l'Inde   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – French
  
• noix d'arec   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 16:51. [refers to the fruit]) – French
  
• Betelnuß   (Source: Zander Ency ) – German
  
• Betelpalme   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• Catechu-Palme   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – German
  
• supari   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – India
  
• pinang   (Source: Hortus 3 ) – Malay
  
• arequeira   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese
  
• areca   (Source: CRC MedHerbs ) – Spanish
  
• bonga   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• betelpalm   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Environmental: ornamental   (fide Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  
• Human food: vegetable   (fide Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  
• Fuels: miscellaneous fuel   (fide Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  
• Materials: beads   (fide Bot Beads World; as web document)
  
• Materials: fiber   (fide Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  
• Materials: tannin/dyestuff   (fide Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (source of arecoline fide Import Medicinal Pl; CRC MedHerbs ed2; Herbs Commerce ed2; Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  
• Vertebrate poisons: mammals   (fide Lampe & McCann)
  
• Social: masticatory   (offering and chewing nuts serve a religious function; flowers used in weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies fide Edible Nuts)
  
• Social: religious/secular   (offering and chewing nuts serve a religious function; flowers used in weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies fide Edible Nuts)
  
• Social: stimulant   (fide Pl Res SEAs 16:51. 2000)
  

More:

View toxicology references for Areca catechu from FDA Poisonous Plant Database

View phytochemical or ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• ASIA-TROPICAL
  Malesia: Philippines

• AFRICA
  East Tropical Africa: Tanzania
  Western Indian Ocean: Madagascar
• ASIA-TEMPERATE
  China: China [s.]
  Eastern Asia: Taiwan
• ASIA-TROPICAL
  Indian Subcontinent: Bangladesh; India; Sri Lanka
  Indo-China: Cambodia; Laos; Myanmar; Thailand; Vietnam
  Malesia: Indonesia; Malaysia; Papua New Guinea
• PACIFIC
  Northwestern Pacific: Micronesia
  Southwestern Pacific: Solomon Islands; Vanuatu

• exact native range obscure

References:

• Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
• Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963–1968. Flora of Java.
• Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs.
• Duke, J. A. 1985. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs.
• Elevitch, C. R., ed. The traditional tree initiative: species profiles for Pacific Island agroforestry (on-line resource).
• Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen.
• Farnsworth, N. R. & D. D. Soejarto. Global importance of medicinal plants (unpublished draft manuscript rev. 23, 1988)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
• Furtado, C. X. 1960. The philological origin of Areca and Catechu. Principes 4:26–31.
• Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
• Hackett, C. & J. Carolane. 1982. Edible Horticultural Crops.
• Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6.
• Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants.
• Li, H. L. et al., eds. 1975–1979. Flora of Taiwan.
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2.
• McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
• Moore, H. E., Jr. 1963. An annotated checklist of cultivated palms. Principes 7:126.
• Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
• Parham, J. W. 1972. Plants of the Fiji islands, revised ed.
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants.
• Rosengarten, F. 1984. The book of edible nuts.
• Smith, A. C. 1979–1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
• Smith, R. J. Botanical beads of the world (on-line resource).
• St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands.
• Uhl, N. W. & J. Dransfield. 1987. Genera palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr.
• Vossen, H. A. M. van der & M. Wessel, eds. 2000. Stimulants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 16:51.
• Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition).
• Webster's third new international dictionary.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Areca catechu.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Areca catechu.

Search Biodiversity Heritage Library for historical publications referencing Areca catechu.

Check other web resources for Areca catechu L.:

• Flora of China: Online version from Harvard University
• TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Check other web resources for images:

• PlantSystematics.org
• Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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