Acrocomia
Read about Acrocomia in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Acrocomia (name means a tuft of leaves at the top). Palmaceae, tribe Bactridineae. A showy genus of American palms. Not popular in the trade because of their spiny habit and rather unattractive young state. The adult plants, however, are very graceful. Leaflets narrowly linear, long, usually obliquely acuminate, the margins naked and recurved, the midrib often spiny on lower sides of lfts.; rachis and petioles usually hairy, always more or less spiny: fls. yellowish, monoecious, the spathes ultimately becoming woody; calyx small, of 3 ovate sepals; corolla of 3 oblong-lanceolate or ovate petals: fr. usually about 1 in. diam., glabrous or sometimes prickly or tomentose. —There are only 8 species, all natives of Trop. Amer. except A. Totai. Most closely related to Cocos, from which the Amer. species differ in having spines. See G.C. II. 22:427. Bull. Torrey Club, 28:565. These palms are usually spiny and have large, terminal, pinnate leaves. All except A. Totai should be grown in a warmhouse, with a night temperature not lower than 60°. They should be potted in soil similar to that for the coconuts, and, if possible, planted out directly. It has been found by some that overpotting the young plants is a danger likely to be incurred. The palms grow slowly and should not be transferred to a new pot until they become almost pot-bound. Propagation is by suckers, which come freely in most species. Seeds are not known in cultivation for any of the species except A. sclerocarpa.
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| Acrocomia aculeata | ||||||||||||||
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| Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Mart. | ||||||||||||||
Acrocomia aculeata, the sole species in the genus Acrocomia, is a species of palm native to tropical regions of the Americas, from southern Mexico and the Caribbean south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Common names include Grugru Palm, Macaúba Palm, Coyol Palm, and Macaw Palm; synonyms include A. lasiospatha, A. sclerocarpa, A. totai, and A. vinifera.
It grows to 15-20 m tall, with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter, characterized by numerous slender, black, viciously sharp 10 cm long spines jutting out from the trunk. The leaves are pinnate, 3-4 m long, with numerous slender, 50-100 cm long leaflets. The flowers are small, produced on a large branched inflorescence 1.5 m long. The fruit is a yellowish-green drupe 2.5-5 cm in diameter, containing a single, dark brown, nutlike seed 2-3 cm diameter, which is very tough to break. The inside is a dry white filling that has a vaguely sweet taste when eaten.
Uses
The plant can in a wide variety of climates and situations, but is generally limited to areas of South America; in Paraguay, for example, where it is ubiquitous, it is called the coco paraguayo (Paraguayan coconut), as it is much less common in the rest of the world. It has been suggested that grugru nut, which come in mass numbers from each tree, can be used in the manufacture of biodiesel. The grugru nut, while very hard, can be sliced into thin circles to be sanded and worn as rings. The trunk of the palm can also be 'milked' to yield a fermented alcoholic beverage known as coyol wine.
