Arecaceae

Many other palms are widely planted, with the Japanese Trachycarpus wagnerianus being grown successfully as far north as Iceland. Some manufacturers, notably AMD, have started using a new, slightly more environmentally friendly alternative to expanded plastic packaging made out of paper, known commercially as "paperfoam." The packaging has very similar mechanical properties to some expanded plastic packaging, but is biodegradable and can also be recycled with ordinary paper. Southern Europe has two native palms, Chamaerops humilis (widespread, but mainly seen in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta) and Phoenix theophrastii (Crete; also southern Turkey). The type of cotton fibres used for making paper are discarded as unusable waste from the textile industry, and can be manufactured using fewer chemicals and less energy. The desert areas of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are also home to some native palms. Their reasons for doing this are that the cotton based tissue papers are less abrasive, less likely to cause allergic reactions, and far more environmentally friendly than wood papers, as they are made from renewable materials. There have even been known species of transplanted palms that have survived as far north as southern New Jersey [1]. However, at least one company (Cloudy Bay Cotton) has recently tried to introduce cotton based tissue papers to westernised countries as an alternative to wood based ones.

Some palms can be grown as far north as Maryland, Arkansas, and even up along the Pacific coast to Oregon and Washington. Paper made in the west since the industrial revolution has been almost exclusively wood based, except for a few specialized papers like those used in banknotes. The southeastern state of South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State because of the number of palms that line the state's Atlantic coast. The majority of modern book publishers now use acid-free paper. In the United States, different types of palm trees can be seen in tropical and mediterranean climate areas, such as Florida, (southern) California and Hawaii and along the Gulf Coast through southern Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana to Texas. Documents written on more expensive rag paper were more stable. For more details, see hardy palms. Unfortunately, the original wood-based paper was more acidic and more prone to disintegrate over time, through processes known as slow fires.

The three most cold-tolerant species are Trachycarpus fortunei, native to eastern Asia, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor, both native to the southeastern United States. The office worker or the white-collar worker was slowly born of this transformation, which can be considered as a part of the industrial revolution. Few palms tolerate severe cold, and the majority of the species are tropical or subtropical. Cheap wood based paper also meant that keeping personal diaries or writing letters ceased to be reserved to a privileged few. See list of Arecaceae genera for a complete listing. With the gradual introduction of cheap paper, schoolbooks, fiction, non-fiction, and newspapers became slowly available to nearly all the members of an industrial society. Economically important genera include:. Before this era a book or a newspaper was a rare luxury object and illiteracy was the norm.

Palms first appear in the fossil record around 70-80 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period. Together with the invention of the practical fountain pen and the mass produced pencil of the same period, and in conjunction with the advent of the steam driven rotary printing press, wood based paper caused a major transformation of the 19th century economy and society in industrialized countries. The Palm Sunday festival uses palms, hence the name. Although older machines predated it, the Fourdrinier paper making machine became the basis for most modern papermaking. Palm sap is sometimes fermented to produce palm wine. Paper remained a luxury item through the centuries, until the advent of steam-driven paper making machines in the 19th century, which could make paper with fibres from wood pulp. Several species are harvested for heart of palm. According to this theory, Chinese culture was less developed than the West in ancient times because bamboo, while abundant, was a clumsier writing material than papyrus; Chinese culture advanced during the Han Dynasty and preceding centuries due to the invention of paper; and Europe advanced during the Renaissance due to the introduction of paper and the printing press.

Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil produced by the oil palms in the genus Elaeis. Some historians speculate that paper was the key element in global cultural advancement. The Date Palm, Rattans, and Coconut also belong to this family. The oldest known paper document in the West is the Missel of Silos from the 11th century. The type member of this family is the areca palm, the fruit of which is chewed with the betel leaf and often confused with it. They used hemp and linen rags as a source of fiber. Of all the families of plants, the Arecaceae is the most easily recognizable as distinct by most persons. After further commercial trading and the defeat of the Chinese in the Battle of Talas, the invention spread to the Middle East, where it was adopted in India and subsequently in Italy in about the 13th century.

There are 202 currently known genera with around 2,600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical or subtropical climates. The technology was first transferred to Korea in 600 and then imported to Japan by a Buddhist priest, Dam Jing (曇徴) from Goguryeo, around 610, where fibres (called bast) from the mulberry tree were used. Arecaceae (also known as Palmae), the Palm Family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order, Arecales. Instruction in the manufacturing process was required, and the Chinese were reluctant to share their secrets. Moore, Jr. (Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas). It spread slowly outside of China; other East Asian cultures, even after seeing paper, could not figure out how to make it themselves. Genera palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Other sources trace the invention of this type of papermaking to China in 150 BC.