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Leopoldinia is a mostly monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family from northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, northwestern Brazil), where they are known as jará palm or pissava palm. The two known species are commercially important, especially L. piassaba, which yields sustenance and construction material. The genus is named for Maria Leopoldina, archduchess of Austria, and Brazilian empress.
Leopoldinia palms are rare in cultivation and practically unknown in herbaria but are extensively used in their natural range. The trunks are used in construction and as fence posts, the fruit from L. major is burned to create a salt substitute and L. piassaba leaves are used in construction. The fruit from L. piassaba is mashed and mixed with water creating a thick, alcoholic beverage; the tough, long leaf base fibers, known as pissava, are commercially viable as a source for rope, brooms, and other products.
Endemic to western Brazil, southern Venezuela and Colombia's Amazonian regions, all are low lying and occupy periodically flooded, tropical rain forest. Both L. major and L. pulchra grow on stony islands and alongside the banks of the Rio Negro and other blackwater rivers; L. piassaba grows in conspicuous groves, most commonly on sandy flats. L. major is the only one which will reach and contribute to the forest canopy, the others are strictly undergrowth subjects.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Leopoldinia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
