The genus includes the Doum palm (H. thebaica). They are unusual among palms in having regular naturally branched trunks; most other palms are single-stemmed from the ground. In Swahili, it is called "koma".
Species
Hyphaene compressa H.Wendl. - eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Mozambique
Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. - northeastern, central and western Africa from Egypt to Somalia and west to Senegal and Mauritania; Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen)
References
^"Hyphaene". The Plant List. 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2017.