Hyphaene is an easily recognized but poorly understood palm genus of six or more species. Best known as conspicuous, dichotomously branched palms of Africa, the genus is also found in Madagascar, India, and the Arabian Peninsula. Using sequences of the nuclear genes phosphoribulokinase (PRK) and RNA polymerase II (RPB2), we reconstructed the phylogeny of tribe Borasseae. The tribe was strongly supported as monophyletic, as were its two subtribes, Lataniinae and Hyphaeneinae. The monophyly of Hyphaene was also strongly supported, along with the sister relationship between Hyphaene and Medemia. Fairchild Tropical Garden’s living palm collection contains Hyphaene accessions from 24 separate localities across the geographic range of the genus. A RAPD and AFLP study of these accessions revealed groupings that correspond to the morphology-based circumscriptions of Hyphaene dichotoma, Hyphaene petersiana, and Hyphaene thebaica. However, Hyphaene compressa and Hyphaene coriacea appear to comprise multiple distantly related groupings of individuals and should be the focus of further taxonomic study.

Key words: Arecaceae, Borasseae, Coryphoideae, Hyphaene, low-copy nuclear genes, Palmae