''Bactris major'' is a small to medium-sized (1–10 m tall) spiny

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

which ranges 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 ...

, 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 ...

into northern

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 ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. The species is divided into three or four varieties, although the boundaries between varieties is not always clearly defined. The fruits are eaten or used to flavour drinks. Spanish names for the palm species include marayaú.

Varieties

Rafaël Govaerts Rafaël Herman Anna Govaerts (born 1968) is a Belgian botanist. He is particularly noted for his work on plant taxonomy. He studied a Bachelor in Science at the European University College Brussels (EHSAL), and since 1994, has worked at the R ...

recognised three varieties: * ''Bactris major'' var. ''major'' * ''Bactris major'' var. ''infesta'' (Mart.) Drude * ''Bactris major'' var. ''socialis'' (Mart.) Drude Andrew Henderson and co-authors recognised a fourth variety, ''Bactris major'' var. ''megalocarpa'' (Trail ex Thurn)

A.J.Hend. Andrew James Henderson (born September 8, 1950) is a palm- systematist and Curator of the Institute of Systematic Botany at the New York Botanical Garden. He has authored taxonomic descriptions of 140 species, subspecies and varieties of plants ...

, but Govaerts considered this to be a synonym of ''Bactris major'' var. ''major''.

Gallery of images

Florae Columbiae (Plate CLXXIV) (8205989936).jpg Contributions du Jardin botanique de Rio de Janeiro - tab. 026 (13604290214).jpg Historia naturalis palmarum (Tab. U) BHL281602.jpg

References

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Trees of Northern America Trees of Central America Trees of Trinidad and Tobago Trees of South America {{tree-stub