Leopoldinia piassaba

Leopoldinia piassaba
Illustration by Joaquim José Codina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Leopoldinia
Species:
L. piassaba
Binomial name
Leopoldinia piassaba

Leopoldinia piassaba, the Para piassava, piassava fiber palm or piassava palm, is a palm native to black water rivers in Amazonian Brazil and Venezuela, from which is extracted piassava, a high caliber and water resistant fiber. Piassaba fiber is made into brooms, baskets and other products. This plant is also a natural habitat of the Rhodnius brethesi which is a potential vector of Chagas disease and it is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.

References

  • "Leopoldinia piassaba". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  • USDA Plants Profile: Leopoldinia piassaba
  • (in Portuguese) Flora Brasiliensis: Leopoldinia piassaba