Areca Linnaeus (1753: 1189)

Three species of Areca are currently recognized from Vietnam (Henderson 2009): Areca triandra Roxburgh in Buchanan-Hamilton (1826: 310), A. laosensis Beccari (1910: 191), and the cultivated A. catechu Linnaeus (1753: 1189) . Areca triandra is widespread in Vietnam and elsewhere in southeast Asia. It is morphologically variable and several forms, including a rheophytic one, are known. Areca laosensis is an enigmatic species, known from only two specimens – one from Laos (collected in 1877) and one from southern Vietnam (collected in 1923). Recently we have collected a fourth species in central Vietnam, which we describe here.