Attalea speciosa Mart.

English: Babassu palm

German: Babassupalme

Portuguese: Babaçu

Kingdom: Plantae (2659)

  Phylum: Tracheophyta (2572)

    Class: Liliopsida (392)

      Order: Arecales (29)

        Family: Arecaceae (29)(family description)

          Genus: Attalea (1)

            Epithet: speciosa Mart. (6)

Synonyms: Attalea glassmanii Zona, Attalea lydiae (Drude) Barb.Rodr., Heptantra phalerata (Mart.) O.F.Cook, Orbignya barbosiana Burret, Orbignya cuci Kunth ex H.Wendl., Orbignya huebneri Burret, Orbignya lydiae Drude, Orbignya macropetala Burret, Orbignya martiana Barb.Rodr., Orbignya phalerata Mart., Orbignya speciosa (Mart.) Barb.Rodr.

barbosiana => in honor of João Barbosa Rodrigues (1842-1909), Brazilian botanist and engineer

glassmanii => in honor of Dr. Sidney Frederick Glassman (1919-2008), american botanist who focused on palms and Micronesian flora

huebneri => in honor of George Hübner (1862-1935), German pioneer photographer and plant collector in Brazil and Peru

macropetala => bearing large petals

martiana => in honor of Karl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868), German botanist and explorer

speciosa => beautiful

Climate: tropical

Habit: tree

Check for Attalea speciosa at

World Flora Online, GBIF or IPNI

• [22] Lorenzi,H. et al. (2004): Palmeiras Brasileiras e Exóticas Cultivadas. Instituto Plantarum, Nova Odessa, São Paulo, Brazil.