''Bactris major'' is a small to medium-sized (1–10 m tall) spiny palm which ranges from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, through

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

into northern

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 ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. The species is divided into three or four varieties, although the boundaries between varieties is not always clearly defined. The fruits are eaten or used to flavour drinks. Spanish names for the palm species include marayaú.

Varieties

Rafaël Govaerts Rafaël Herman Anna Govaerts (born 1968) is a Belgian botanist. He is particularly noted for his work on plant taxonomy. He has worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew since the 1990s, and is the principal contributor to the World Checklist of ...

recognised three varieties: * ''Bactris major'' var. ''major'' * ''Bactris major'' var. ''infesta'' (Mart.) Drude * ''Bactris major'' var. ''socialis'' (Mart.) Drude Andrew Henderson and co-authors recognised a fourth variety, ''Bactris major'' var. ''megalocarpa'' (Trail ex Thurn) A.J.Hend., but Govaerts considered this to be a synonym of ''Bactris major'' var. ''major''.

References

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Trees of Mexico Trees of Central America Trees of Trinidad and Tobago Trees of South America {{tree-stub