Economic botany of Sugar palms (Arenga pinnata Merr. and A. westerhoutii Griff., Arecaceae) in Thailand »nµµÁ«¦¬·°µ¨r¤Êεµ¨ (Arenga pinnata Merr. and A. westerhoutii Griff., ª«r Arecaceae) Ä¦³Á«Å¥ RATCHADA PONGSATTAYAPIPAT 1 * AND ANDERS S. BARFOD 2 1 Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, P.O.Box 7 Mae Rim, Chiang Mai 50180, Thailand 2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000, Aarhus C., Denmark ABSTRACT. Five species of the SE Asian palm genus Arenga occur in Thailand. Three of these are treelike and referred to here collectively as Sugar Palms. They are quite similar and their identity is often confused. The aim of this paper is to clarify the current status of sugar palms in Thailand and to address a number of pertinent questions in relation to their exploitation. The semi-cultivated Sugar Palm, Arenga pinnata, is economically important but has a restricted distribution in Thailand. It is mostly used for sugar tapping, but it is also exploited for edible endosperms. The other economically important Sugar Palm in Thailand, A. westerhoutii, is widespread throughout the country and constitutes a main source of edible endosperms. Sugar palms constitute an important resource at the local level that has a great potential as a component in agro-forestry systems. Future research should concentrate on sustainability of extraction, climato-edaphic requirements of different proveniences, genetic improvement and conservation of genetic resources. ´¥n°. µ¨r¤»¨qµª®¦º°· (Arenga) ¤¸µ¦¦³µ¥¡´»rÄ£¼¤·£µÁ°Á¸¥³ª´Á¸¥Äo Ä¦³Á«Å¥¡´Ê®¤ 5 · ¨³¤¸ 3 ·¸É¤¸¨´¬³´µª·¥µ£µ¥°¸É¨oµ¥¨¹´ º°¤¸ ¨¶oÁ¸É¥ªµÄ®n ¨³¤´¼Á¦¸¥Ã¥¦ª¤ªnµµ¨r¤ʶµ¨ (Sugar Palms) µ¦«¹¬µ¹µ¦Äo ¦³Ã¥r¨³»nµµÁ«¦¬·°¡º»¨qµª®¦º°· Ä¦³Á«Å¥¤¸ª´»¦³rÁ¡ºÉ°«¹¬µ µ£µ¡µ¦Äo¦³Ã¥r Á¡ºÉ°¶Å¼nµ¦°»¦´¬r ¨³µ¦´µ¦¦´¡¥µ¦°¥nµ¥´É¥º µµ¦ «¹¬µ¡ªnµo (Arenga pinnata) Á}µ¨r¤¸Éµ¤µ¦Ä®o¨¨·Á}ʶµ¨ ¹É¤¸ªµ¤¶´ n°Á«¦¬·Ä¦³´»¤ Á}¡º¹ÉÁ¡µ³¨¼¸É¤´¡¦³µ¥Ä¡ºÊ¸ É»¤ ¤¸µ¦¦³µ¥¡´»r Äµ¡ºÊ¸Éµ£µÄo°¦³Á«Ánµ´Ê nªoqµª®¦º°· (A. westerhoutii) ¡¦³µ¥¡´»r°¥¼n * Corresponding author: ratchadap@qsbg.org Received: 15 September 2009 Accepted: 28 November 2009 THAI JOURNAL OF BOTANY 1(2): 103-117. 2009. วารสารพฤกษศาสตรไทย 1(2): 103-117. 2552.