The palms in this subtribe are medium-sized palms, with well-developed, distinct crownshafts and strictly pinnate leaves with generally short and massive petioles. The inflorescences are branched to two or three orders, with the prophyll and penduncular bracts similar. The subtribe is homogenous compared to other subtribes of the Areceae. All the genera have more than six stamens. The New Caledonian genera have distinctive leaf anatomy and may share a common ancestor (Uhl and Dransfield 1987:367).
References
Dransfield, John, Natalie W Uhl, Conny B Asmussen, William J Baker, Madeline M Harley, and Carl E Lewis (2005) A new phylogenetic classification of the palm family, Arecaceae. Kew Bulletin, Vol. 60 (2005).
Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN0-935868-30-5 / ISBN978-0-935868-30-2.
USDA; ARS; National Genetic Resources Program. "Genus Mackeea H. E. Moore". Germplasm Resources Information Network — (GRIN). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
^Dransfield, John; Uhl, Natalie W.; Asmussen, Conny B.; Baker, William J.; Harley, Madeline M.; Lewis, Carl E. (2008). Genera Palmarum: The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN978-1-84246-182-2.
^Some sources include the genus Mackeea in Archontophoenicinae. This is a synonym of Kentiopsis.
^Domenech, B., C. B. Asmussen-Lange, W. J. Baker, E. Alapetite, J. C. Pintaud, and S. Nadot. (2014) A Phylogenetic Analysis of Palm Subtribe Archontophoenicinae (Arecaceae) Based on 14 DNA Regions.” Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 175 (4): 469–81.