Socratea

Socratea
Socratea exorrhiza stilt roots
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Arecoideae
Tribe: Iriarteeae
Genus: Socratea
H.Karst.
Synonyms[1]
  • Metasocratea Dugand

Socratea is a genus of five species of palms found in tropical Central America and South America.[1][2][3]

It is commonly believed that Socratea can move away from where it germinated by growing roots on one side and abandoning them on the other. Attempts to detect this behavior have failed.[4] What is known for a fact is that these roots can, in the case of S. montana, grow to a length of 16.5 feet (five meters) and up to three inches (eight cm) in diameter.[5]

Species

  • Socratea exorrhiza (Mart.) H.Wendl. - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, northern and western Brazil (States of Amazonas, Amapá, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima)
  • Socratea hecatonandra (Dugand) R.Bernal - Colombia, Ecuador
  • Socratea montana R.Bernal & A.J.Hend. - Colombia, Ecuador
  • Socratea rostrata Burret - Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
  • Socratea salazarii H.E.Moore - Peru, Bolivia, western Brazil (State of Acre)

References

  1. ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ^ Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. ^ Henderson, A. 1990. Arecaceae–Part I. Introduction and the Iriarteinae. Flora Neotropica, Monograph 53: 1–100
  4. ^ Can 'Walking Palm Trees' Really Walk? At: Live Science
  5. ^ Henderson, Andrew (May 2, 1990). "Arecaceae - Part 1". Flora Neotropica. 53: 84.
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