Euterpe

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 the genus Prestoea. The fruit is small, but is produced in great quantity upon branched spadices, which are thrown out horizontally beneath the crown of leaves. It consists of a hard seed, with a very thin covering of a firm pulp or flesh. The name açaí palm usually refers to Euterpe oleracea, but various other species of Euterpe are cultivated commercially under that name....read more on Wikipedia.