Cocoseae
Tribe of palms
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Through Inflorescence
Description
The fruit of the Cocoseae is a modified drupe, with a sclerenchymatous epicarp and a highly developed mesocarp, formed mainly by parenchyma . The endocarp is generally sclerenchymatous and protects the seeds from predation and drying. The most obvious synapomorphy of the species of this tribe is the presence, in the endocarp, of three or more "eyes" or pores of germination. According to Thomas C. Whitmore all Cocosoid palms have inflorescences in which the flowers are in triads (sets of three flowers).
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Distribution
The Cocoseae are distributed mainly in the Neotropical regions, with two genera endemic to Africa (Jubaeopsis and Elaeis) and Madagascar (Beccariophoenix and Voanioala), respectively.
Phylogeny
A 2016 molecular phylogenomic analysis of the tribe Cocoseae gives the following phylogenetic tree:
Systematics
The Cocoseae in the sense of Dransfield et al. (2008) are identified as natural relatives (monophylum) in most studies. Their systematic position within the Arecoideae is still unclear. Different studies see them as a sister group of the Reinhardtieae, as a sister group of the group from Reinhardtieae and Roystoneeae, or as a sister group of the Oranieae.
The tribe is divided into three subtribes. All three are monophyletic. Bactridinae and Elaeidinae are sister groups