''Attalea speciosa'', the babassu, babassu palm, ''babaçu, or cusi'', is a

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

native to the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

region in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. The babassu palm is the predominant species in the

Maranhão Babaçu forests The Maranhão Babaçu forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of north-central Brazil. The forests form a transition between the equatorial forests of the Amazon biome to the west and the drier savannas and xeric shrublands to the ...

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

and

Piauí Piaui (, ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piaui has the shortest coastline of any coastal Brazilian state at 66&n ...

states.

This plant has commercial value because its

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s produce an edible oil called

babassu oil Babassu oil or cusi oil is a clear light yellow vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the babassu palm (''Attalea speciosa'') which grows in the Amazon region of South America. It is a non-drying oil used in food, cleaners and skin products. ...

, which is also used in cleaners and skin-care products. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is used to produce products such as

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

s, beauty aids, and

beverages A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...

. Traditional communities of the

region also produce a flour from the fruit, and this is commercialized as a nutritional supplement. The leaves are also used to provide

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

for

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

s and can be woven into mats for constructing house

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the supe ...

s. The

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

s are used for timbers. The babassu palm is considered a

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

areas of

Cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

in Brazil.

Taxonomy

In his 1995 ''The Palms of the Amazon'', Andrew Henderson recognised ''A. speciosa'' and '' A. spectabilis'' as valid species, but considered the latter to either be an acaulescent form of ''A. speciosa'' or a hybrid between '' A. microcarpa'' and it. In their 2005 ''World Checklist of Palms'' Rafäel Govaerts and John Dransfield accepted ''A. spectabilis'' as a valid taxon but Sidney F Glassman considered it a

dubious Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty ...

taxon in his 1999 ''Taxonomic Treatment of Palm Subtribe Attaleinae''. ''

Attalea vitrivir Attalea may refer to : * ''Attalea'' (plant), a genus of palms ** List of Attalea species * Attalea in Lydia Attalea or Attaleia ( grc, Ἀττάλεια) was a Roman city of ancient Lydia, former diocese and is presently a Latin Catholic titu ...

'' was recognised as a distinct species by Michael Balick and coauthors; Glassman and Govaerts and Dransfield concurred, but Henderson considered it part of ''A. speciosa''. Glassman also described a fourth member of this group, '' A. brejinhoensis'', and it is accepted by Govaerts and Dransfield.

Reproduction and growth

''A. speciosa'' is

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

—male and female flowers are separate, but are borne by the same plant. Pollination has been attributed both to insects and wind.

Uses

Biofuel

In February 2008, babassu palm oil was used in a blend with coconut oil and jet fuel to power one engine of a

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...

Boeing 747 during a flight test.

Other

Babassu oil Babassu oil or cusi oil is a clear light yellow vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the babassu palm (''Attalea speciosa'') which grows in the Amazon region of South America. It is a non-drying oil used in food, cleaners and skin products. ...

can also be used in food cooking, as a lubricant, and in soap and cosmetics. The shell of the nut can be used to make smokeless charcoal, and flesh of the babassu nut is used to produce flour. Palm hearts are extracted from the tree to make a juice. The leaf and stalk of the babassu palm are used in building materials. Baskets and other handicrafts can be made from the fibre of the leaves.Renold, Jaye (2015) Brazil's Warrior Women - Educational Pack: http://ifnotusthenwho.me/films/womens-movement-access-babassu-oil/ A high-protein cake with about 20% protein content is formed after oil is extracted from the fruits. This cake is typically used as animal feed.

References

External links

''Orbignya phalerata''
* ttp://www.arbolesornamentales.com/Attaleaspeciosa.htm Árboles en España: Manual de Identificación: ''Orbignya phalerata''
''One Planet'' episode on babassu cultivation
from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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