The palm family is a diverse plant family. More than 2,600 species of palm are known and new species are discovered each year. Palms occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica. The most northernmost species of palm (Chamaerops humilis) grows to the south of France and the southernmost (Rhopalostylis sapida) on the Chatham islands east of New Zealand. Palms have always been very important to mankind. The appearance of date palms in the desert or coconut trees on an island meant shelter, drinking and eating. Today there are still cultures that depend entirely on palms. But even in the modern world, palms are still very important for our way of life. For example, we all eat palms almost every day, it is in our fuel, cosmetics or even in our furniture. But palms are also essential for the climate; 6 of the 10 most common plant species in the Amazon are palms. These 2 trillion individual palms have a direct effect on the global climate. The palm family also consists of record breakers with the largest inflorescence with 24 million flowers (Corypha umbraculifera), the longest leaves up to 25m (Raphia regalis), the longest trunk more than 200m (Calamus sp.) And the largest seed up to 20kg (Lodoicea maldivica) .