Taxon:  Elaeis guineensis Jacq.



Summary
Genus:
Elaeis
Family:
Arecaceae (alt. Palmae)
Subfamily:
Arecoideae
Tribe:
Cocoseae
Subtribe:
Elaeidinae
Nomen number:
14936
Place of publication:
Select. stirp. amer. hist. 280, t. 172.  1763
Verified:
03/17/2010 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
92 (11  active, 3  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Autonym(s)
Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. guineensis

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. madagascariensis Jum. & H. Perrier
Elaeis madagascariensis (Jum. & H. Perrier) Becc.
Elaeis melanococca Gaertn.

No images


Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
  2. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
  3. APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
  4. Dransfield, J. & H. Beentje. 1995. The palms of Madagascar
  5. Duke, J. A. 1989. Handbook of Nuts CRC Press.
  6. Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1384.
  7. Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants Kampong Publications.
  8. FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
  9. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  10. Glassman, S. F. 1972. A revision of B. E. Dahlgren's Index of American palms. Phanerog. Monogr. 6:1-294.
  11. Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
  12. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
  13. Hartley, C. W. S. 1988. The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), ed. 3. 761 pp.
  14. Ithnin, M. et al. 2011. Elaeis. In: Kole, C., ed., Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources, plantation and ornamental crops 6:113-124.
  15. Jones, D. L. 1994. Palms throughout the world
  16. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
  17. Keay, R. W. J. 1989. Trees of Nigeria
  18. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
  19. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
  20. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
  21. Moore, H. E., Jr. 1963. An annotated checklist of cultivated palms. Principes 7:144.
  22. Opsomer, J. E. 1956. Les premières descriptions du palmier à huile (Elaeis guineensis). Bull. Séances Acad. Roy. Sci. Outre Mer 2:253.
  23. Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
  24. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  25. Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
  26. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  27. Smith, A. C. 1979-1991. Flora vitiensis nova.
  28. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  29. Uhl, N. W. & J. Dransfield. 1987. Genera palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr.
  30. Vossen, H. A. M. van der & B. E. Umali, eds. 2001. Vegetable oils and fats. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 14:85-93.
  31. Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) A:118.
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
EnglishAfrican oil palm  1Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Englishmacaw-fat  1Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1384.
Englishoil palm  1Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Frenchpalmier à huile  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Frenchpalmier à huile d'Afrique  2FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Germanafrikanische Ölpalme  2Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1384.
GermanÖlpalme  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Indonesiankelapa sawit  2Vossen, H. A. M. van der & B. E. Umali, eds. 2001. Vegetable oils and fats. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 14:85-93.
Malaykelapa sawit  2Vossen, H. A. M. van der & B. E. Umali, eds. 2001. Vegetable oils and fats. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 14:85-93.
Portuguesepalmeira-andim  2PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Portuguesepalmeira-do-azeite  2PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Portuguesepalmeira-do-dendê  2PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Portuguese (Brazil)dendê  2Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Portuguese (Brazil)dendezeiro  2Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Spanishpalma africana  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swahilimchikichi  2PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Swedisholjepalm  2Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaAngola  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBenin  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaCôte D'Ivoire  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGhana  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaLiberia  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria  Keay, R. W. J. 1989. Trees of Nigeria
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSenegal  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSierra Leone  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaTogo  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaBurundi  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCentral African Republic  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCongo  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaGabon  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaRwanda  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
2Cultivated    widely cult. in tropicsGovaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
4NaturalizedAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar natzd.?Dransfield, J. & H. Beentje. 1995. The palms of Madagascar
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesiaSumatera Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
4NaturalizedAsia-TropicalMalesiaMalaysia  Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
Native
Africa
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Gabon, Rwanda
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola
Cultivated (widely cult. in tropics)
Naturalized
Africa
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar (natzd.?)
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Sri Lanka
  • MALESIA: Indonesia [Sumatera], Malaysia

Reference(s)
  1. Dransfield, J. & H. Beentje. 1995. The palms of Madagascar
  2. Govaerts, R. & J. Dransfield. 2005. World checklist of palms.
  3. Keay, R. W. J. 1989. Trees of Nigeria
  4. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalornamental PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Fuelspetroleum substitute/alcoholsee also https://news.mongabay.com/2006/05/high-oil-prices-fuel-bioenergy-push/PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Human foodbeverage base PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Human foodfruit PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Human foodoil/fat PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Human foodvegetable PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Materialsbeads PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Materialsfiberused in soaps, lubricants, & plasticizer and stabilizer in plasticsPROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Materialslipidsused in soaps, lubricants, & plasticizer and stabilizer in plasticsPROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Medicinesfolklore PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=14936. Accessed 12 May 2026.