''Acrocomia'' is a genus of
palms which is native to the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In biogeog ...
, ranging from
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in the north, through
Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, and through
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
south to
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
Description
''Acrocomia'' is a genus of spiny, pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...
-leaved palms which range from large trees to small palms with short, subterranean stems.inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
s which are located among the leaves. The flowers are unisexual
Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...
; female flowers are born near the base of the inflorescence, while male flowers are borne towards the tips. Fruits are large, single-seeded, and vary in colour from yellow, to orange, to brown.[
''Acrocomia'' is considered to be at an early phase of development as an alternative and multipurpose crop.
]
Species
* ''Acrocomia aculeata
''Acrocomia aculeata'' is a species of palm native to the Neotropics.
Common names
Common names include grugru palm, ''gloo gloo'', ''corojo'', macaúba palm, coyol palm, and macaw palm; synonyms include ''A. lasiospatha, A. sclerocarpa'', and ' ...
'' ( Jacq.) Lodd. ex R.Keith - Mexico, Central America, West Indies, northern South America
* ''Acrocomia crispa
''Acrocomia crispa'', also known as the Cuban belly palm or corojo, a palm species which is endemic to Cuba. Formerly placed in its own genus, ''Gastrococos'', recent work found that that genus was nested within ''Acrocomia''. It is a tall, s ...
'' (Kunth
Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850) was a German botanist. He was also known as Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth. He was one of the early systematic botanists who focused on studying the plants of th ...
) C. Baker ex. Becc. - Cuba
* ''Acrocomia emensis
''Acrocomia'' is a genus of palms which is native to the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico in the north, through Central America and the Caribbean, and through South America south to Argentina.
Description
''Acrocomia'' is a genus of spiny, pinn ...
'' (Toledo) Lorenzi - Brazil
* ''Acrocomia glaucescens
''Acrocomia'' is a genus of palms which is native to the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico in the north, through Central America and the Caribbean, and through South America south to Argentina.
Description
''Acrocomia'' is a genus of spiny, pinn ...
'' Lorenzi - Brazil
* ''Acrocomia hassleri
''Acrocomia hassleri'' is a species of palm which is native to southern Brazil (State of Mato Grosso do Sul) and Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina ...
'' ( Barb.Rodr.) W.J.Hahn - Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraguay
* ''Acrocomia intumescens
''Acrocomia intumescens'', the macaúba-barriguda tree, is a palm tree in the genus ''Acrocomia''. It is native to the Brazilian states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba and Ceará. It occurs in the Atlantic Forest, both in ...
'' Drude - Brazil
* ''Acrocomia media
''Acrocomia media'' is a species of palm which is native to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Description
''Acrocomia media'' is a pinnately leaved palm with a solitary, stout stem. It usually reaches a height of , sometimes growing up to ta ...
'' O.F.Cook - Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
* ''Acrocomia mexicana
''Acrocomia aculeata'' is a species of Arecaceae, palm native to the Neotropics.
Common names
Common names include grugru palm, ''gloo gloo'', ''corojo'', macaúba palm, coyol palm, and macaw palm; synonym (taxonomy), synonyms include ''A. lasio ...
'' Karw. ex Mart. - Yucatán, Mexico Mart.
Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botany, botanist and explorer. Between 1817 and 1820, he travelled 10,000 km through Brazil while collecting botanical specimens. His m ...
References
*
External links
''Acrocomia research at the University of Hohenheim''
Arecaceae genera
Flora of the Neotropical realm
{{Cocoseae-stub