Rhapis is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of about 10 species of small palms

Arecaceae

Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

 native to southeastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 from southern Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and southern China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 south to Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. The species are commonly known as Lady Palms.
They are fan palms (Corypheae tribe), with the leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. The plants have thin stems growing to 3-4 m tall, branching at the base, forming clumps and are dioecious

Dioecious

Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...

, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.
Rhapis is closely related to the Maxburretia

Maxburretia

Maxburretia is a genus of three rare species of palms found in southern Thailand and Malaysia. The genus is named in honor of Max Burret....

and Guihaia

Guihaia

Guihaia is a genus of two species of palms found in China and Vietnam....

genera and with them form a taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 within Thrinacinae represented by carpel specialization.
Selected species

• Rhapis excelsa
  Rhapis excelsa
  Rhapis excelsa also known as Broadleaf Lady Palm or Bamboo Palm is a species of fan palm in the genus Rhapis, probably native to southern China and Taiwan. It is not known in the wild; all known plants come from cultivated groups in China...
  
  
• Rhapis filiformis
• Rhapis gracilis
  Rhapis gracilis
  Rhapis gracilis, or Slender Bamboo Palm, is a multi-stemmed palm tree native to southern China. It produces round fruit which are usually about 8 mm in diameter....
  
  
• Rhapis humilis
• Rhapis laosensis
• Rhapis multifada
• Rhapis laosensis
• Rhapis multifida
• Rhapis robusta
• Rhapis subtilis

Cultivation and uses

Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants, of which Rhapis excelsa is the most common. R. excelsa and some other species are relatively cold tolerant and can be grown outdoors in subtropical or warm temperate climates.