Description
The genus Attalea has pinnately compound leaves—rows of leaflets emerge on either side of the axis of the leaf in a feather-like or fern-like pattern. Species are also non-spiny palms and includes both large trees with stout stems up to 30 metres (98 ft) tall and acaulescent palms (one which lack an aboveground stem). The number of leaves per individual varies from about three to thirty-five; larger plants tend to have more and longer leaves.
Inflorescences are large, branched and borne among the leaves. The inflorescence consists of a main axis—the peduncle and the rachis—and a series of smaller branches, the rachillae. The rachillae, which bear the flowers, emerge from the rachis. The peduncle is the main stalk, connecting the rachis with the stem. Inflorescences either consist entirely of male flowers, or are predominantly female with a few male flowers. Fruit usually have two or three seeds, although fewer or more are present in some species, and are usually brown, yellow, orange-brown or purple when mature.
Four different types of male flowers exist. On the basis of these flower types, the genus has often been split into four genera—a more narrowly defined Attalea, Orbignya, Maximiliana and Scheelea. The species sometimes referred to Orbignya have coiled anthers, while the other groups have straight ones. The petals of those placed in Maximiliana are much shorter than the stamens, while those placed in Scheelea and a more narrowly defined Attalea have petals that are longer than the stamens. Five species do not fit easily into any of these groups; this fact has been used as an argument in favour of considering this group a single genus.
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