Chamaedorea

{{Short description|Genus of palms}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Chamaedorea costaricana.jpg

|image_caption = Chamaedorea costaricana

|display_parents = 2

|taxon = Chamaedorea

|authority = Willd.{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2373 |title=Genus: Chamaedorea Willd. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2007-10-05 |access-date=2011-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529203611/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2373 |archive-date=2010-05-29 |url-status=dead }}

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = See text

|synonyms = Anothea O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Cladandra O.F.Cook

Collinia (Liebm.) Liebm. ex Oerst.

Dasystachys Oerst.

Discoma O.F.Cook

Docanthe O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Eleutheropetalum H.Wendl.

Eucheila O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Kinetostigma Dammer

Kunthea Humb. & Bonpl.

Legnea O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Lobia O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Lophothele O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Mauranthe O.F.Cook

Meiota O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Migandra O.F.Cook

Morenia Ruiz & Pav.

Neanthe O.F.Cook

Nunnezharia Ruiz & Pav.

Nunnezia Willd.

Omanthe O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Paranthe O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Platythea O.F.Cook nom. inval.

Spathoscaphe Oerst.

Stachyophorbe (Liebm. ex Mart.) Liebm.

Stephanostachys (Klotzsch) Klotzsch ex O.E.Schulz

}}

Chamaedorea is a genus of 107 species of palms, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, palms checklist: [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do?plantName=Chamaedorea&page=quickSearch Chamaedorea]Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan {{ISBN|0-333-47494-5}}. They are small palms, growing to {{convert|0.3|-|6|m|abbr=on}} tall with slender, cane-like stems, growing in the understory in rainforests, and often spreading by means of underground runners, forming clonal colonies. The leaves are pinnate (rarely entire), with one to numerous leaflets. The flowers are produced in inflorescences; they are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The fruit is an orange or red drupe 0.5–2 cm diameter. Perhaps the best-known species is Chamaedorea elegans (neanthe bella palm or parlor palm) from Mexico and Guatemala. It is popular as a houseplant, particularly in Victorian houses. Another well-known species is Chamaedorea seifrizii, the bamboo palm or reed palm.

The name Chamaedorea comes {{ety|grc|χαμαί (chamai)|on the ground||δωρεά (dorea)|gift}}, in reference to easily reached fruits, or the plants' low-growing nature.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esMPU5DHEGgC |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=I A-C |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |publisher=CRC Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8493-2675-2 |page=495}}