Bactris vulgaris is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is a shrub or palm tree with a spiny stem, four to ten leaves, and yellow or purplish-black fruits. The species is native to Brazil, and was described in 1879.
Taxonomy The species was described by João Barbosa Rodrigues in 1879.
Distribution Bactris vulgaris is native to the wet tropical biome of Brazil. It grows in the north-east (Bahia and Pernambuco), south (Paraná), and south-east (Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). The species grows in Atlantic coastal forests and lowland rainforests, on non-flooded soils, at elevations of .
Description Bactris vulgaris is a shrub or palm tree. The stems are tall, wide, spiny, and form clumps.
The plant has four to ten leaves, which are compound, and have twenty-one to forty-nine pinnae on each side. The pinnae are linear-lanceolate, arranged into irregular clusters, and have spiny edges. The spines are clustered, black, cylindrical, and up to long. The leaf stem is long.
The flower stem is long, curved, and spiny. The male flowers are long, and have six stamens. The sepal lobes are long. The female flowers are long. The calyx is cup-shaped, and long. The corolla (botany) is tube-shaped, long, and spiny.
The fruits are obovoid, wide, and yellow or purplish-black. The epicarp is smooth. The mesocarp is juicy, and the endocarp is turbinate.
Nomenclature In Portuguese, the species is known as , , , , , or .
References
External links