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Attalea
Attalea is a genus of large, non-spiny feather-leaved palms from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, including both stemless palms and tall trees up to about 30 m. Most grown members are tropical palms that need warmth, bright light, and room to grow.
Attalea is a large genus of palms native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. This pinnately-leaved, non-spiny genus includes both small palms without an aboveground stem and large trees. The genus has a complicated taxonomic history and has often been divided into four or five genera based on differences in male flowers. Since the genera can only be distinguished on the basis of their male flowers, the existence of intermediate flower types and the existence of hybrids between different genera has been used as an argument for keeping them all in the same genus. This has been supported by recent molecular phylogenies.
Between 29 and 67 species are recognised in the genus, with estimates of as many as 100. Incomplete herbarium collections make it difficult to determine whether certain groups represent single species, or groups of similar species.
Species range across the Neotropics from Mexico in the north to Bolivia, Paraguay, and southern Brazil in the south, from low elevations in coastal Brazil to up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft) above sea level in the Andes. According to Govaerts and coauthors, three species are found in Mexico, four in Central America, and 62 in South America. Three species are present in the Caribbean—two in Trinidad and Tobago, along the southern edge of the region, and one in Haiti.
Attalea species have a long history of human use. Carbonised Attalea maripa seeds have been found in archaeological sites in Colombia dating back to 9000 BP. Several species remain important sources of edible oil, thatch, edible seeds, and fibre. The leaves of Attalea butyracea and A. maripa are used extensively for thatching. Several species are oil palms, with A. speciosa among the most important economically. Products extracted from A. speciosa were reported to support over 300,000 households in the Brazilian state of Maranhão in 2005, and in 1985 it was estimated to support over 450,000 households throughout the Brazil. Piassava fibres, extracted from the leaf bases of A. funifera, are commercially important, and generated about US$20 million in annual income to Brazilian farmers in 1996.
Cohune Palm · Carossier palm · Attalea dubia · Bahia piassaba palm · Babassu Palm
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Attalea (plant) by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
