''Olmeca'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mesoamerican Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Withi ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

in the

grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

.Tropicos, ''Olmeca'' Soderstr.
/ref>Soderstrom, Thomas Robert. 1982. Phytologia 51(2): 161.
/ref> ''Olmeca'' is the only known New World bamboo having large fleshy fruits. It also has

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s with long necks and very open clumps. The genus is named for the

Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...

peoples of southern

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 ...

, who thrived in southern

in the first millennium

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. ;SpeciesSoreng, R. J., G. Davidse, P. M. Peterson, F. O. Zuloaga, E. J. Judziewicz, T. S. Filgueiras & O. Morrone. 2003 and onwards. On-line taxonomic novelties and updates, distributional additions and corrections, and editorial changes since the four published volumes of the Catalogue of New World Grasses (Poaceae) published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium vols. 39, 41, 46, and 48. http://www.tropicos.org/Project/CNWG:. In R. J. Soreng, G. Davidse, P. M. Peterson, F. O. Zuloaga, T. S. Filgueiras, E. J. Judziewicz & O. Morrone (eds.), Internet Catalogue of New World Grasses. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis * ''

Olmeca clarkiae ''Olmeca'' is a genus of Mesoamerican bamboo in the grass family. ''Olmeca'' is the only known New World bamboo having large fleshy fruits. It also has rhizomes with long necks and very open clumps. The genus is named for the Olmec peoples o ...

'' (Davidse & R.W.Pohl) Ruiz-Sanchez, Sosa & Mejía-Saulés -

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

* ''

Olmeca fulgor ''Olmeca'' is a genus of Mesoamerican bamboo in the grass family. ''Olmeca'' is the only known New World bamboo having large fleshy fruits. It also has rhizomes with long necks and very open clumps. The genus is named for the Olmec peoples o ...

'' (Soderstr.) Ruiz-Sanchez -

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

* ''

Olmeca recta ''Olmeca'' is a genus of Mesoamerican bamboo in the grass family. ''Olmeca'' is the only known New World bamboo having large fleshy fruits. It also has rhizomes with long necks and very open clumps. The genus is named for the Olmec peoples o ...

'' Soderstr. -

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

* ''

Olmeca reflexa ''Olmeca'' is a genus of Mesoamerican bamboo in the grass family. ''Olmeca'' is the only known New World bamboo having large fleshy fruits. It also has rhizomes with long necks and very open clumps. The genus is named for the Olmec peoples o ...

'' Soderstr. -

* ''

Olmeca zapotecorum ''Olmeca'' is a genus of Mesoamerican bamboo in the grass family. ''Olmeca'' is the only known New World bamboo having large fleshy fruits. It also has rhizomes with long necks and very open clumps. The genus is named for the Olmec peoples o ...

'' Ruiz-Sanchez, Sosa & Mejía-Saulés -

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1653146 Bambusoideae genera Flora of Mexico Bambusoideae Flora of Honduras Neotropical realm flora