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Attalea funifera
Arecaceae FAMILY

Attalea funifera

Attalea funifera

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A plant of the tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 400 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 25°c, but can tolerate 18 - 30°c[1]. It can be killed by temperatures of 5°c or lower[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,800 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 1,500 - 2,400mm[1]. Prefers a moist soil and a warm, sunny position[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 5.5, tolerating 4.5 - 6.5[1]. The seedlings grow down into the soil for 3 - 4 years, producing a stem below ground to a depth of 100 - 150cm. After a few more years a trunk may begin to form at ground level[1]. Young plants generally produce inflorescences with male flowers, whilst older, taller plants are more likely to produce female inflorescences[3].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Attalea+funifera>

Pollinators

Bees, Beetles, Flies

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia. — http://www.pacsoa.org.au/ ↩︎Contains at least a little information on the majority of palm and cycad species, plus a wealth of photographs. A first class website.
  3. [3]Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas — Henderson A.; Galeano G.; Bernal R. · Princeton University Press; Princeton, New Jersey. · 1995 · ISBN 0-691-08537-4 ↩︎An excellent book, giving basic information on all the 550 species of palms native to the Americas that were known in 1995. Comprehensive information on the plants range and habitat, brief description, some uses and almost 250 photos.
  4. [4]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  5. [5]A Taxonomic Treatment of the Palm Subtribe Attaleinae (Tribe Cocoeae) — Glassman S.F. · University of Illinois Press; Chicago. · 1999 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN 0-252-06786-X ↩︎An in depth treatment of the Palm Subtribe Attaleinae. As well as a detailed study of the species, it also mentions various of their uses.
  6. [6]Useful Fiber Plants of the World — Dodge C.R. · USDA; Washington. · 1897 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A rather dated, but very comprehensive catalogue of fibre plants from around the world. The book can be downloaded from the Internet.