Areca catechu
Areca catechu is the
areca palm or
areca nut palm betel palm, Filipino:
bunga, Indonesia/Malay:
pinang, Malayalam:
അടക്ക adakka, Kannada:
ಅಡಿಕೆ Adike), ( in Tamil "kamuhu" in Sinhala "Puwak" ) 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, Taiwan, Yunnan), India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, and also in the West Indies.
Areca is derived from a local name from the Malabar Coast of India and
catechu is from another Malay name for this palm,
caccu. This palm is often 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 Piperaceae family.