''Rhapis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of about 10 species of small palms native to southeastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

from southern Japan and southern China south to Sumatra. The species are commonly known as lady palms. They are fan palms (subfamily

Coryphoideae The Coryphoideae is one of five subfamilies in the palm family, Arecaceae. It contains all of the genera with palmate leaves, excepting '' Mauritia'', '' Mauritiella'' and '' Lepidocaryum,'' all of subfamily Calamoideae, tribe Lepidocaryeae, su ...

), with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. The plants have thin stems growing to 3–4 m tall, branching at the base, forming clumps and are

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.

Cultivation and uses

Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants, of which ''

Rhapis excelsa ''Rhapis excelsa'', also known as broadleaf lady palm or bamboo palm, is a species of fan palm (Arecaceae subfamily Coryphoideae, tribe Trachycarpeae) in the genus '' Rhapis'', probably native to southern China and Taiwan. It is not known in th ...

'' is the most common. ''Rhapis excelsa'' and some other species are relatively cold tolerant and can be grown outdoors in subtropical or warm temperate climates. ''Rhapis excelsa'' was listed by NASA as one of the best plants for removing toxins from the air.

References

Arecaceae genera Dioecious plants {{Arecaceae-stub