''Hyophorbe'' is a genus of five known species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

, native to the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. All five species can attain heights of over 6 meters, and two of the species develop swollen trunks that have made them popular as ornamentals,World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: ''Hyophorbe''
/ref> but all of them are endangered in the wild. It contains the following species: # '' Hyophorbe amaricaulis'' Mart. –

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, 1 individual left # '' Hyophorbe indica'' Gaertn. (palmiste poison) –

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

# ''

Hyophorbe lagenicaulis ''Hyophorbe lagenicaulis'', the bottle palm or palmiste gargoulette, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is native to Round Island (Mauritius), Round Island, Mauritius. Description Bottle palm has a large swollen (someti ...

'' (L.H.Bailey) H.E.Moore (bottle palm) –

# '' Hyophorbe vaughanii'' L.H.Bailey –

# '' Hyophorbe verschaffeltii'' H.Wendl. (palmiste marron) – Rodrigues Island

Species gallery

Source:C.Lewis, Barboza, N. (2000). ''ldentity of the Hyophorbe Palms at the Botanical Garden of Cienfuegos, Cuba'' Palms 44. p.95. File:Hyophorbe-amaricaulis.JPG, The last surviving specimen of '' Hyophorbe amaricaulis''. This species has a slender, unswollen trunk. File:Hyophorbe indica dsc03778.jpg, '' Hyophorbe indica'' is another slender-trunk species, but often with yellow veins along its foliage. File:Hyophorbe lagenicaulis F.jpg, ''

'' is known as the "bottle palm" as it trunks swells from near the base, into a bottle shape. File:1 Habit of adult Hyophorbe verschaffeltii -Grande Montagne Rodrigues.jpg, '' Hyophorbe verschaffeltii'' is known as the "spindle palm" as its trunk swells in the middle. It has black fruits and yellow-green foliage.

References

Endemic flora of the Mascarene Islands Arecaceae genera Flora of the Afrotropical realm Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{palm-stub