''Copernicia alba'' is a South American species of palm tree, which is found in the Humid Chaco ecoregion in

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, Paraguay,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, Brazil (in the states of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

and

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul () is one of the Midwestern states of Brazil. Neighboring Brazilian states are (from north clockwise) Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and ...

) and Argentina (especially the province of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

, and less abundantly towards drier areas). They often, but not always, form dense single-species woodlands. Its

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s in Spanish show the various colours (and technical qualities) that its wood and/or

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

takes according to its environment: ''palma blanca'', ''palma negra'', ''palma colorada'' ("white", "black", and "red" palm, respectively). In Guaraní, it is called ''caranday'', "water palm". Its English trade name is wax palm or caranday wax palm (it belongs to the same genus as the Carnauba wax palm). Copernicia_australis_1892

Ancient peoples in South America used wax palm for making candles by scraping away wax on the leaves. ''C. alba'' can reach 25 m in height and 40 cm in girth. The trunk is cylindrical, rarely bifurcated, and has a grayish bark with a smooth surface in adult specimens. The leaves are persistent, grouped at the apex of the trunk, and measuring between 40 and 70 cm. The inflorescence is almost 2 m long; the flowers are hermaphroditic, about 4 mm long, with a tubular yellowish green corolla, and arranged in a spiral pattern. Each flower has three ovaries, of which only one develops into a globular fruit, a dark pulpous berry that contains a light-brown, 12-mm-long ovoid seed. Young specimens have a lightweight semihard wood, which becomes hard and heavier in mature individuals, reaching a

relative density Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ...

up to 0.92. This wood finds its main use in telephone and electrical line poles. In Paraguay, ''C. alba'' currently studied for its suitability as a biodiesel oil crop.

References

*''Libro del Árbol: Especies Forestales Indígenes de la Argentina de Aplicación Industrial'' (edited by Celulosa Argentina S. A., Buenos Aires, October 1975) {{Taxonbar, from=Q2718997 alba Trees of Argentina Trees of Bolivia Trees of Paraguay Trees of Brazil Trees of Colombia Humid Chaco