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Dictyocaryum is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the palm family found in South America. It is closely related to the genus Iriartea; they are commonly called araque or palma real. As many as eleven species have been described but this number is reduced to three in most current accounts. The genus name translates from two Greek words meaning "net" and "nut", describing the thick network of raphe fibers around the seed.
Their growing conditions are usually hard to mimic, making them relatively uncommon in cultivation. They require a frost-free climate, humus-rich soil, and plenty of water. In their natural range the trunks are used by indigenous people in construction and cabinet-making, the leaves are woven into thatched goods, while the fruit is eaten and made into palm wine or jelly. The Emberá Indians use the hard, durable trunks in the construction of coffins.
Palms in this genus are found in the mountainous and montane rain forest regions of Panama, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Guyana and Venezuela from low elevations up to 1800 m. They often colonize in large, conspicuous groves, on steep slopes, receiving generous rain fall, and growing in acidic, noncalcareous soil.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dictyocaryum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
