Attalea speciosa
Encyclopedia
Attalea speciosa is a palm
native to the Amazon Rainforest
region in South America
. The Babassu palm is the predominant species in the Maranhão Babaçu forests
of Maranhão
and Piauí
states.
This plant has commercial value because its seed
s produce an edible
oil called babassu oil
, which is also used in cleaners and skin care products. The fruit
is used to produce products such as medicine
s, beauty aids, and beverages. Traditional communities of the Maranhão
region also produce a flour from the fruit and this is commercialized as a nutritional supplement. The leaves are also used to provide thatch for house
s and can be woven into mat
s for constructing house wall
s. The stem
s are used for timbers. The Babassu palm is considered a weed
in pasture
areas of Cerrado
vegetation
in Brazil.
Its fruits and leaves are one of the main materials used by the artisans of Tocantins
(Brazil
) to manufacture different products very popular with tourists.
recognised A. speciosa and A. spectabilis as valid species, but considered the latter to either be an acaulescent form of A. speciosa or a hybrid between it and A. microcarpa. In their 2005 World Checklist of Palms Rafäel Govaerts and John Dransfield accepted A. spectabilisas a valid taxon but Sidney F Glassman considered it a dubious
taxon in his 1999 Taxonomic Treatment of Palm Subtribe Attaleinae. Attalea vitrivir was recognised as a distinct species by Michael Balick and coauthors; Glassman and Govaerts and Dransfield concurred, but Henderson considered it part of A. speciosa. Glassman also described a fourth member of this group, A. brejinhoensis, and it is accepted by Govaerts and Dransfield.
—male and female flowers are separate, but are borne by the same plant. Pollination has been attributed both to insects and wind.
plant that Air New Zealand tested in December 2008. This is because Babassu grows in forested areas that require deforestation, rather than in arid and land with marginal use like the Jatropha plant.
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
native to the Amazon Rainforest
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
region in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. The Babassu palm is the predominant species in the Maranhão Babaçu forests
Maranhão Babaçu forests
The Maranhão Babaçu forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of north-central Brazil.-Setting:The Maranhão Babaçu forests cover an area of , extending across northeastern and central Maranhão state and northern Piauí state. The forests form a transition between the equatorial forests...
of Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
and Piauí
Piauí
Piauí is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country.Piauí has the shortest coastline of any of the non-landlocked Brazilian states at 66 km , and the capital, Teresina, is the only state capital in the north east to be located inland...
states.
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s produce an edible
Eating
Eating is the ingestion of food to provide for all organisms their nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, omnivores consume a mixture of both plant and animal matter,...
oil called babassu oil
Babassu oil
Babassu oil or cusi oil is a clear light yellow vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the babassu palm , which grows in the Amazon region of South America. It is a non-drying oil used in food, cleaners and skin products. This oil has properties similar to coconut oil and is used in much the...
, which is also used in cleaners and skin care products. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is used to produce products such as medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
s, beauty aids, and beverages. Traditional communities of the Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
region also produce a flour from the fruit and this is commercialized as a nutritional supplement. The leaves are also used to provide thatch for house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s and can be woven into mat
Mat
A mat is a generic term for a piece of fabric or flat material, generally placed on a floor or other flat surface, and serving a range of purposes including:* providing a regular or flat surface, such as a mousepad....
s for constructing house wall
Wall
A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air...
s. The stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
s are used for timbers. The Babassu palm is considered a weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
in pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
areas of Cerrado
Cerrado
The Cerrado, is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Gioas and Minas Gerais...
vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
in Brazil.
Its fruits and leaves are one of the main materials used by the artisans of Tocantins
Tocantins
Tocantins may refer to:* Tocantins, a state in Brazil* Tocantins River, a river in Brazil* Survivor: Tocantins, a reality show set in Tocantins, Brazil* Tocantins Esporte Clube, a Brazilian football club...
(Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) to manufacture different products very popular with tourists.
Taxonomy
In his 1995 The Palms of the Amazon, Andrew HendersonAndrew Henderson (botanist)
Andrew James Henderson 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, especially in the palm family...
recognised A. speciosa and A. spectabilis as valid species, but considered the latter to either be an acaulescent form of A. speciosa or a hybrid between it and A. microcarpa. In their 2005 World Checklist of Palms Rafäel Govaerts and John Dransfield accepted A. spectabilisas a valid taxon but Sidney F Glassman considered it a dubious
Nomen dubium
In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...
taxon in his 1999 Taxonomic Treatment of Palm Subtribe Attaleinae. Attalea vitrivir was recognised as a distinct species by Michael Balick and coauthors; Glassman and Govaerts and Dransfield concurred, but Henderson considered it part of A. speciosa. Glassman also described a fourth member of this group, A. brejinhoensis, and it is accepted by Govaerts and Dransfield.
Reproduction and growth
Attalea speciosa is monoeciousPlant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
—male and female flowers are separate, but are borne by the same plant. Pollination has been attributed both to insects and wind.
Biofuel
In February 2008, Babassu Palm oil was used in a blend with Coconut oil and jet fuel to power one engine of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 during a flight test. It is considered to be less environmentally friendly than biofuel made from the JatrophaJatropha
Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees , from the family Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός , meaning "physician," and τροφή , meaning "nutrition," hence the common name physic nut. Mature plants produce separate male and female...
plant that Air New Zealand tested in December 2008. This is because Babassu grows in forested areas that require deforestation, rather than in arid and land with marginal use like the Jatropha plant.
External links
- Orbignya phalerata
- CIRAD-FLHOR/IPGRI Project for Neotropical Fruits: Orbignya phalerata Árboles en España: Manual de Identificación: Orbignya phalerata
- One Planet episode on babassu cultivation from the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...