page_title: Attalea (plant)
section_title: Reproduction and growth
hierarchical_section_title: Attalea (plant) / Reproduction and growth
caption_attribution_description: English: Attalea sp. male inflorescence swarming with insects. Photo taken in Carate, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
context_page_description: Attalea is a large genus of palms native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. This pinnately leaved, non-spiny genus includes both small palms lacking an aboveground stem and large trees. The genus has a complicated taxonomic history, and has often been split into four or five genera based on differences in the male flowers. Since the genera can only be distinguished on the basis of their male flowers, the existence of intermediate flower types and the existence of hybrids between different genera has been used as an argument for keeping them all in the same genus. This has been supported by recent molecular phylogenies.
  Between 29 and 67 species are recognised in the genus, with estimates of as many as 100. Incomplete herbarium collections make it difficult to determine whether certain groups represent single species, or groups of similar species. Attalea species have a long history of human use, and include economically important sources of palm oil and fibre. Many species are fire tolerant and thrive in disturbed habitats. Their seeds are animal dispersed, including some which are thought to have been adapted for dispersal by now-extinct Pleistocene megafauna.
context_section_description: Attalea species are monoecious—male and female flowers are separate, but are borne by the same plant. Various species have been described as being insect-pollinated, including A. phalerata, while pollination in A. colenda  and A. speciosa, has been attributed both to insects and wind. The fruit are animal-dispersed.
  Seed germination is remote tubular—during germination, as the cotyledon expands it pushes the young shoot away from the seed. After germination, the stem initially grows downward before turning to grow upward and produce the aboveground stem. This produces a "saxophone shaped" belowground portion of the stem. The fact that the shoot tips of Attalea seedlings are underground it likely to contribute to their fire-tolerance.
caption: Male inflorescence of Attalea sp. swarming with insects.
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