Acrocomia aculeata
Macauba palm in Argentina
The Macauba Palm ( Acrocomia aculeata ) is a tropical plant species in America from the family of palm trees. It is most noticeable on the numerous long and very sharp spines on trunk, the leaf spindles and petioles.
Description
Macauba palm trees are usually not higher than 10 to 12 meters, 16 meters up in Brazil and Puerto Rico to 18 meters. The trunk is gray and reaches a diameter ( DBH ) of 35 centimeters (rarely to 50 cm). Characteristic of the style are the ring on the trunk arranged thin black spines, which are especially common in the upper part of the stem and are shed at the bottom. The spines can reach lengths of 5 to 7.5 centimeters, rarely up to 15 centimeters.
The crown consists of about 20 (up to 40 ) and a plurality of green -brown, dry and soon sloping leathery leaves of 3 to 4 meters in length. The life span of the leaves is about 2 years. They are divided into numerous narrow and tapered segments of up to 60 centimeters in length and only 6 millimeters wide. The top is shiny green, the underside dull blue-green. Petioles, rachis and young seedlings are also studded with spines.
The palm can wear all year round flowers and fruit. Main flowering time in Brazil is the time from mid-October to mid-November in Costa Rica from April to May It is pollinated by various species of beetles, self-fertilization is possible.
The Macauba palm is monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). The Rispige inflorescence has a length from 0.9 to 1.5 meters on with a prickly stem. The male flowers in the tip region of the inflorescence and the female at the base are arranged. Individual panicles consist of up to 55 Rispenästen and can carry up to 90,000 male and 650 female flowers. The male flowers are 7 millimeters long and have three small, ovate sepals, a corolla dreizipfelige, six -faceted at the top of the corolla tube stamens and a rudimentary stamp. The female flowers are 1 inch long and have scale-like sepals, three overlapping petals and three pen.
About a year after flowering, the mature, single-seeded drupes are dropped. They have a diameter of 2.5 to 5 centimeters, a weight of about 24 grams, are greenish yellow to pale brown, round and tapered point-like at the apex. 100 to 200 fruits annually formed, in exceptional cases up to 2000. The pulp ( mesocarp ) is fibrous and tastes sweet. It encloses a very hard stone core. The seeds are at the time of fruit ripening soft and gelatinous and are only in the ground in the course of another year hard. The thousand-seed weight is about 9 kilograms.
Germination is hypogeous, then develop young seedlings at the shoot base a swelling, extending from the numerous white, rigid roots. After a year heights of 1 meter can be achieved. The growth of the species is slow to moderate.
Distribution and habitat requirements
The natural area of the species extends from Mexico and the West Indies on Bolivia and Paraguay to Brazil and Argentina. They are not found in Ecuador and Peru.
The species prefers deeper layers, comes in the Colombian Andes but until altitude of 1200 meters before. They are sensitive to shading, particularly favorable development proceeds in an open area, such as grazing areas. The species tolerates salt spray and is rarely overturned by wind. Only repeated intense fires can harm the tribe, and the trees in danger.
About another site claims little is known. In Puerto Rico the Macauba palm grows together in coastal areas on sandy soils eg with the noni tree (Morinda citrifolia).
System
The distribution of the species covers a large area and resulted in large morphological variability, ( 37 species status, one variety) led to the classification of many regionally limited taxa. Meanwhile in the genus only two types are distinguished, in addition to Acrocomia aculeata still Acrocomia hassleri ( Barbosa Rodrigues) WJ Hahn. Maybe Acrocomia forms Totei a third kind
Synonyms for the type (selection): Acrocomia media, Acrocomia mexicana, Acrocomia vinifera, Acrocomia totai.
Use
The seeds are edible and found in Central America for the natives a food dar. also palm wine, a fermented phloem sap injured strains is drunk. The high oil content of the fruit is used in South America for the production of soap. The hard wood of the root sheath is used for Dielungen and for the production of walking sticks. The palm is also used in landscaping.