# What kind of tree can you hold in your hand?

Source: https://silverapuzzles.com/riddles/what-kind-of-tree-can-you-hold-in-your-hand

A tree riddle you can answer by looking at your own hand. One part of the hand shares its name with a kind of tree.

**Answer:** A palm tree.

The inside of your hand is called your palm.

Hint: Look at your hand.

## How to think about it

1. No real tree fits in a hand, so the answer must be a tree whose name is also a word for something small.
2. Look at your hand. Name its parts: fingers, thumb, knuckles, palm.
3. One of those is also a tropical tree.
4. A palm tree shares its name with the palm of your hand.

## Why “a palm tree” is the answer

The palm of your hand and a palm tree share one word, so in the punning sense you hold a palm every time you close your fist. The riddle is a vocabulary joke rather than a logic puzzle. Bonsai trees are a clever literal answer but not the pun the riddle wants.

## Common wrong answers

- **A bonsai.** A small bonsai can sit in your hands, but the riddle wants the palm pun.
- **A family tree.** You can hold a drawing of one, but the name has nothing to do with hands.