commonly-called

Updated: June 14, 2025

This is the most delicate stem of all the palm tribe; that of a tree of eighty feet in length would not exceed five inches in diameter. Nevertheless, I have never seen an areca palm overturned by a storm; they bow gracefully to the wind, and the extreme elasticity of the wood secures them from destruction. This tree produces the commonly-called "betel-nut," but more properly the areca-nut.

Sir Samuel White Baker - Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon