English: Palm trees are a botanical family of perennial lianas, shrubs, and trees. They are the only members of the family Arecaceae, which is the only family in the order Arecales. They grow in hot climates. Well known palm trees are: Date palm Coconut palm There are about 2600 species of palm trees, most of them living in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Palms are one of the best known and most widely planted tree families. They have held an important role for humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods come from palms. They are often used in parks and gardens that are in areas that do not have heavy frosts. In the past palms were symbols of victory, peace, and fertility. Today palms are a popular symbol for the tropics and for vacations.[1] Palm tree trunks are absolutely amazing in their ability to bend and flex in hurricane force winds without breaking. They don't all look the same though. There are marked distinctions in the trunks of palms just like their leaves. The trunks of palm tree can safely fit into a few basic categories: Those covered with fibers or possibly spines, rough or smooth texture, single or multi varieties and those that have their trunk grow underground. There can be large differences in the ones that grow above ground even though they are in the same category. Trunks, Fibers and Spines Let's take a quick look at the palm tree trunks that have fibers covering them. There are quite a few and more often than not they belong to the fan leaf part of the family. The windmill palm is has the fibers and spines. It's hard to tell exactly what the trunk looks like underneath. Some of the rules of exporting trees like this--- is the trunk must be striped of the fibers before shipping. I think its probably to eliminate the chances of transporting insects or possible bacteria or fungus that may be living in the fibers. Another great example is the " old Man Palm" It is called this partly because of the way the fibers look on the tree. Both the fibers and the spines can be different lengths, colors and textures. It will all depend on the type of tree. A tree famous for its spines on the trunk is the zombie palm. It is native here in the Dominican Republic. It has a really neat design with the spines but I sure wouldn't want to brush up against it by accident. Original photo by Guettarda Above: Zombie palm Left: Old man palm The terms single or muli trunks are pretty straight forward. There are many varieties that have both of these kinds in their family. Some good examples would be the bamboo palm or fishtail palm families. The multi ones are also called clustering or clumping. Whole new trees spring up from the ground around the original creating a clump of trees. Generally single palm tree trunks like the coconut don't have branches. But every once in a while there's a freak of nature.