Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius

The açaí palm ( ə-SY-ee; Portuguese: [asaˈi] , from Nheengatu asai), Euterpe oleracea, is a species of palm tree (Arecaceae) cultivated for its fruit (açaí berries, or simply açaí), hearts of palm (a vegetable), leaves, and trunk wood. Global demand for the fruit has expanded rapidly in the 21st century, and the tree is cultivated for that purpose primarily. The species is native to eastern Amazonia, especially in Brazil, mainly in swamps and floodplains. Açaí palms are tall, slender trees growing to more than 25 m (82 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long. The fruit is small,

The Loganiaceae are a family of flowering plants classified in order Gentianales. The family includes up to 13 genera, distributed around the world's tropics. There are not any great morphological characteristics to distinguish these taxa from others in the order Gentianales. Many members of the Loganiaceae are extremely poisonous, causing death by convulsion. Poisonous properties are largely due to alkaloids such as those found in Strychnos. Glycosides are also present as loganin in Strychnos. Earlier treatments of the family have included up to 29 genera. Phylogenetic studies have

The Dioscoreales are an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants, organized under modern classification systems, such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group or the Angiosperm Phylogeny Web. Among monocot plants, Dioscoreales are grouped with the lilioid monocots, wherein they are a sister group to the Pandanales. In total, the order Dioscoreales comprises three families, 22 genera and about 850 species. Dioscoreales contains the family Dioscoreaceae, which notably includes the yams (Dioscorea) and several other bulbous and tuberous plants, some of which are heavily cultivated as staple food

Huperzia selago, the northern firmoss or fir clubmoss, is a vascular plant in the family Lycopodiaceae. It is small-ish, sturdy, stiff and upright and densely scale-leaved. This plant is an evergreen, perennial pteridophyte. The spores are produced June to September (in the northern hemisphere). It has a circumpolar distribution.

The Garryales are a small order of dicotyledons, including only two families and three genera.

The Canellaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Canellales. The order includes only one other family, the Winteraceae. Canellaceae is native to the Afrotropical and Neotropical realms. They are small to medium trees, rarely shrubs, evergreen and aromatic. The flowers and fruit are often red. Several species of Canellaceae are important in herbal medicine or as a substitute for cinnamon, which is obtained from genus Cinnamomum in family Lauraceae. Canella winterana is the only species known in cultivation. The family is divided into five genera, but studies of DNA sequences have

Lacistemataceae is a small flowering plant family. There are two genera: Lacistema (12 species) Lozania (5 species) They are small trees (to 15 metres tall) and shrubs (to 5 metres tall) that are native to the subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas (also known as the Neotropics). The leaves are on alternate sides of the stem and maybe surrounded by a pair of stipules. The Inflorescence located between the leaf and the stem (axil) are either catkins (in Lacistema) or racemes (in Lozania). Each flower (mostly bisexual) approximately one millimetre in length consist of a disc with

Arisaema is a large and diverse genus of the flowering plant family Araceae. The largest concentration of species is in China and Japan, with other species native to other parts of southern Asia as well as eastern and central Africa, Mexico and eastern North America. Asiatic species are often called cobra lilies, while western species are often called jack-in-the-pulpit; both names refer to the distinctive appearance of the flower, which consists of an erect central spadix rising from a spathe.

Livistona chinensis, the Chinese fan palm or fountain palm, is a species of subtropical palm tree of east Asia. It is native to southern Japan, Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, southeastern China and Hainan. In Japan, two notable populations occupy islands near the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture, Aoshima and Tsuki Shima. It is also reportedly naturalized in South Africa, Mauritius, Réunion, the Andaman Islands, Java, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Hawaii, Florida, Bermuda, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Hyphaene thebaica, with common names doum palm (Ar: دوم) and gingerbread tree (also mistakenly doom palm), is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is a native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western part of Africa where it is widely distributed and tends to grow in places where groundwater is present.

The Hymenophyllaceae, the filmy ferns and bristle ferns, are a family of two to nine genera (depending on classification system) and about 650 known species of ferns, with a subcosmopolitan distribution, but generally restricted to very damp places or to locations where they are wetted by spray from waterfalls or springs. Fossil evidence shows that ferns of the family Hymenophyllaceae have existed since at least the Upper Triassic.

Selaginella selaginoides is a non-flowering plant of the spikemoss genus Selaginella with a wide distribution around the Northern Hemisphere. It resembles a moss in appearance but is a vascular plant belonging to the division Lycopodiophyta. It has a number of common names including lesser clubmoss, club spikemoss, northern spikemoss, low spikemoss and prickly mountain-moss. This plant has one close relative, Selaginella deflexa, native to Hawaii. These two plants form a small clade that is sister to all other Selaginella species.

Borassus aethiopum is a species of Borassus palm from Africa. In English, it is variously referred to as African fan palm, African palmyra palm, deleb palm, ron palm, toddy palm, black rhun palm, rônier palm (from the French). It is widespread across much of tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to northern South Africa, though it is largely absent from the forested areas of Central Africa and desert regions such as the Sahara and Namib. This palm also grows in northwest Madagascar and the Comoros.

Inga edulis, known as ice-cream bean, paterna, cushín (short variety), joaquiniquil, cuaniquil (both from Nahuatl: cuahuxinicuile combining cuahuitl "tree"; icxitl "feet" and necuilli "crooked") guama, or guaba, is a fruit native to Central and South America. It is in the mimosoid tribe of the legume family Fabaceae. It is widely grown, especially by Indigenous Amazonians, for shade, food, timber, medicines, and production of the alcoholic beverage cachiri. It is popular in Peru, Ecuador, Pernambuco-Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, Costa Rica and Colombia. The taxonomic generic name Inga is derived

Chamaedorea elegans, the neanthe bella palm or parlour palm, is a species of small palm tree native to the rainforests in Southern Mexico and Guatemala. The parlor palm is one of the most extensively sold houseplant palms in the world. It is one of several species with leaves that are harvested as xate. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Euterpe is a genus of palm trees, containing eight species that are native to Central America and the Yucatan, the West Indies, and South America, from Belize and the Windward Islands southward to Brazil, Peru and Argentina. These palms grow mainly in swamps and floodplains. The genus is named after the muse Euterpe of Greek mythology. Euterpe are tall, slender palms growing to 15–30 metres (49–98 ft), with pinnate leaves up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) long, and a stem only about 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in diameter. Many of the palms that were once in the genus Euterpe have been reclassified into

Astrocaryum vulgare is a very spiny palm native to the Guianas and the Amazon. It is a species which has greatly benefited from deforestation, as it cannot grow in undisturbed rainforest. It is common in the Pará state of Brazil, to the east of the Amazon. This plant has edible fruit. Astrocaryum vulgare was first described in the book Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.

Episcia is a genus of flowering plants in the African violet family, Gesneriaceae. The ten species it contains are native to the tropical regions of Central and South America. The species are perennial herbaceous plants characterized by a stoloniferous habit, red (rarely orange, pink, blue or yellow) flowers, and frequently have marked or patterned leaves. Episcias are sometimes called flame violets.

Syagrus is a genus of Arecaceae (palms), native to South America, with one species endemic to the Lesser Antilles. The genus is closely related to the Cocos, or coconut genus, and many Syagrus species produce edible seeds similar to the coconut.

Pithecellobium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes approximately 23 species from the tropical Americas, ranging from Mexico to Peru and northern Brazil, including the Caribbean Islands and Florida. The generic name is derived from the Greek words πίθηκος (pithêkos), meaning "ape" or "monkey," and ἐλλόβιον (ellobion), meaning "earring," which refers to the coiled shape of the fruit pods. Plants of the genus are known generally as blackbeads.

Dypsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. They are slender, evergreen palms with yellow flowers carried in panicles amongst the pinnate leaves. Many Dypsis species have aerial branching (above the main trunk), a rare growth habit among palms. Some have marcescent leaves that remain attached after death and trap litter for nutrients. Several species previously placed here have been returned to the restored genera Chrysalidocarpus (including the type species Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) and Vonitra.

Acrocomia is a genus of palms which is native to the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico in the north, through Central America and the Caribbean, and through South America south to Argentina.

Livistona australis, the cabbage-tree palm, is an Australian plant species in the family Arecaceae. It is a tall, slender palm growing up to about 25 m in height and 0.35 m diameter. It is crowned with dark, glossy green leaves on petioles 2 m long. It has leaves plaited like a fan; the terminal bud of these is small but sweet. In summer it bears flower spikes with sprigs of cream-white flowers. The trees accumulate dead fronds or leaves, which when the plant is in cultivation are often removed by an arborist. It is the namesake of the Tharawal people (i.e. after its native name in their

Euterpe edulis, commonly known as juçara, jussara (an archaic alternative spelling), açaí-do-sul or palmiteiro, is a palm species in the genus Euterpe. It is now predominantly used for hearts of palm. It is closely related to the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea), a species cultivated for its fruit and superior hearts of palm. The larvae of Caligo brasiliensis are reported to feed on E. edulis. Although it was formerly widely harvested in Brazil for hearts of palm, it is now uncommon in the wild and no longer harvested commercially due to past overharvesting. This could cause it to fall extinct.

Enterolobium is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical and warm-temperate regions of the Americas. They are medium-sized to large trees.

Acrocomia aculeata is a species of palm native to the Neotropics.

Platonia insignis is a species of tree of the family Clusiaceae, and the sole species of genus Platonia. It is native the Amazon rainforest in tropical South America, ranging through northern and northeastern Brazil, southeastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, and the Guianas. Common names include bacuri (and numerous variant spellings thereof; bacurí, bacury, bakuri, pacuri, pakuri, pakouri, packoeri, pakoeri), maniballi, naranjillo and bacurizeiro. There was a degree of nomenclatural confusion, caused by Moronobea esculenta. If that were validly published for this species the current name

Latania loddigesii is a species of palm tree. The species is named in honor of Joachim Loddiges. It is endemic to Mauritius, where the only remaining populations are located on the offshore islands. It is also grown as an ornamental plant. Its common names include latanier de l'Ile Ronde and latanier de Maurice.

Hyophorbe amaricaulis (also known as the "loneliest palm") is a species of palm tree of the order Arecales, family Arecaceae, subfamily Arecoideae, tribe Chamaedoreeae. It is found exclusively on the island of Mauritius, and only a single surviving specimen has been documented in the Curepipe Botanic Gardens in Curepipe. Thus, it is classified as an endling.

Euphronia is a genus of three species of shrubs native to northern South America and is the only genus in the family Euphroniaceae. It was previously classified in the Vochysiaceae family and elsewhere due to its unique floral features, but the APG III system of 2009 recognized Euphroniaceae as distinct and placed Euphronia in it. Based on molecular data from the rbcL gene, it is sister to the Chrysobalanaceae.