Attalea phalerata

Abstract

A denizen of floodplains along sediment-rich rivers, this large palm with its impressive spreading fronds is found from the mouth of the Amazon upstream to Peru and Bolivia. It also occurs along some of the southern affluents of the Amazon. The tall palm has a wide range of uses including fruit, nuts, thatch, folk medicine, and crafts. Because of its multiple uses, some areas have been enriched with the palm, such as on indigenous mounds in the seasonally-flooded savannas of southwestern Amazonia and around home sites along forested rivers.