Note 814 — BOOK XIII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF EXOTIC TREES, AND AN ACCOUNT OF UNGUENTS.
John Bostock translation
Pliny would imply that they are so called from the Greek ἀδέλφια, “a sister,” as being of sister quality to the caryotæ; but it is much more probable, as Fée remarks, that they got this name from being attached in pairs to the same pedicle or stalk.