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Acrocomia aculeata

(Gru-Gru Palm, Macauba Palm, Macaw Palm)

Overview

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Fruits and sweet seeds edible, and 'Mocaya' oil similar to coconut oil from the fruits. Sago can be obtained from the stems (Burkill, 1835). Oil can be used for massaging or making soap. Young leaves can be eaten as a vegetatble. 'Coyol' palm wine is produced by tapping the stems in Costa Rica. A few days after drinking it, it is said you get drunk again if you stay for some time under the sun. Seeds are dispersed by cattle.

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Ge Lu Ye Zi, Pi Ci Ge Lu Zong

Common Names in English:

Coyol Palm, Coyoli Palm, Groo Groo, Gru-Gru Palm, Grugru Palm, Macauba Palm, Macaw Palm, Macaya Oil, Mucuja Palm, Paraguay Palm, Ruffle Palm

Common Names in French:

Acrocome, Corosse, Coyol, Gru-Gru, Noix De Coyol

Common Names in German:

Coyolipalme

Common Names in Japanese:

Akurokomia, Akurokomia Yashi, Akurokomiya

Common Names in Portuguese:

Grou Grou, Macauba, Mucajá, Mucajá, Mucujá (Brazil), Mucuja

Common Names in Spanish:

Amankayo, Corojo, Corozo, Corozo (Venezuela), Coyol (Costa Rica), Coyol Baboso, Totai (Bolivia), Tucuma

Common Names in Spanish (Bolivia):

Totai

Description

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Genus Acrocomia

Stems solitary, robust , armed , covered with persistent leaf bases or bare. Leaves: petioles armed with needlelike prickles; petiole margins unarmed ; blade pinnate, armed with prickles; plication reduplicate ; segments regularly arranged, apices acute. Inflorescences axillary within crown of leaves, paniculate , arching , becoming pendulous in fruit, with 1 order of branching; prophyll short; peduncular bract woody, prickly, splitting abaxially, curling downward; rachis armed with prickles. Flowers unisexual , sessile, borne in triads of 1 pistillate flower flanked by 2 staminate flowers , staminate flowers borne singly along distal portions of rachillae. Staminate flowers: sepals 3, free ; petals 3, valvate , leathery, basally connate , leathery; stamens 6, free; anthers rectangular; pistillode with 3 minute lobes . Pistillate flowers: sepals 3, imbricate, free; petals 3, imbricate, basally connate or nearly free; staminodes well -developed, bearing short, sterile anthers; pistils 1, large, tomentose ; ovules 3; styles indistinct; stigmas 3. Fruits drupes, globose ; exocarp brownish green, thin, pubescent near fruit apex [bristly ]; mesocarp fleshy , oily; endocarp thick, bony, with 3 equatorial germination pores . Seeds irregular; endosperm homogeneous ; embryo lateral ; eophyll undivided [2-cleft], linear-lanceolate. nx = 15.

Species 2--30: Mexico, West Indies, Central America, and South America.

Although as many as 30 species of Acrocomia have been described, a recent study (A. Henderson et al. 1995) recognized only two, A. aculeata (Jacquin) Loddiges (including A. totai Martius) and A. hassleri (Barbosa Rodrigues) W. J. Hahn. I maintain A. aculeata and A. totai as two separate species, both of which are cultivated in Florida, where the latter species is naturalized . A general comparison of these two species was made by B . Peterson (1991) in which he noted that the eophyll of A. aculeata is 2-cleft and that of A. totai is undivided. He also found several subtle differences between these species when mature . For example, the trunk spines of A. totai are ca. 12--13 cm and those of A. aculeata are ca. 6--10 cm. Clearly, additional study is warranted to resolve the prickly systematic problems in this genus."Acrocomia". in Flora of North America Vol. 22 Page 122, 123. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Physical Description

Species Acrocomia aculeata

10-20m palm, up to 50cm diam., broader towards the crown (carrot shaped) with pinnate leaves of 50-60 pairs leaflets , usually with clusters of long flat prickles c 4cm long. Leaves also armed with prickles. Fruit 3-5cm diam. x c/ 3cm tall, smooth or slightly scaly , with 3cm nut within.

Habit: Evergreen .

Flowers: Bloom Period: June. • Flower Color: cream, pale yellow, tan

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 10-12' tall.

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space 15-20' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Mart.
  2. Acrocomia aculeata Jacq.
  3. Cocos aculeatus Jacq.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 05-Apr-2001

Place of publication : Hist. nat. palm. 3:286. 1845

Name verified on 17-Apr-2008 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 17-Apr-2008

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Acrocomia

There are approximately 43 species in this genus:

A. aculeata (Gru-Gru Palm) · A. antiguana · A. antioquensis · A. antioquiensis · A. armentalis · A. belizensis · A. christopherensis · A. chunta · A. crispa · A. erioacantha · A. erisacantha · A. fusiformis · A. glaucophylla · A. grenadana · A. guianensis · A. hassleri · A. horrida · A. hospes · A. ierensis · A. intumescens · A. karukerana · A. lasiospatha · A. media (Grugru Palm) · A. mexicana · A. microcarpa · A. minor · A. mokayayba · A. odorata · A. panamensis · A. pilosa · A. quisqueyana · A. sclerocarpa · A. sphaerocarpa · A. spinosa · A. subinermis · A. tenuifrons · A. totai (Grugru Palm) · A. ulei · A. ventricosa · A. viegasii · A. vinifera (Coyol Palm) · A. wallaceana · A. zapotecis

Bibliography

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More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 01, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

Last Revised: 2008-10-03