<Li> Areca nigra Giseke ex H. Wendl . </Li> <Li> Areca macrocarpa Becc . </Li> <P> Areca catechu is a species of palm which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa . The palm is believed to have originated in the Philippines, but is widespread in cultivation and is considered naturalized in southern China (Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan), Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Ceylon, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, and also in the West Indies . </P> <P> The species has many common names including the areca palm, areca nut palm, betel palm, Indian nut, Pinang palm, Chinese language / Mandarin: "檳榔", Tamil: கமுகு, Tagalog: bunga, Indonesia / Malay: pinang, Tamil: "கமுகு" "kamuhu" Malayalam: adakka, Kannada: Adike . This palm is called the betel tree because its fruit, the areca nut, is often chewed along with the betel leaf, a leaf from a vine of the family Piperaceae . </P>

Trees of the betel nut genus of palms