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Phytelephas macrocarpa

Species of plant

Species / taxontaxonQ160336

Also known as Ivory nut palm · Ivory palm · Large-fruited ivory palm

Scientific name: Phytelephas macrocarpa
Rank: species
Parent taxon: Phytelephas
Taxon range: Amazonia
1
Sources
1.Stated in Brazilian Flora 2020 project - Projeto Flora do Brasil 2020
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, Acre
1
Sources
1.Stated in Brazilian Flora 2020 project - Projeto Flora do Brasil 2020
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Phytelephas macrocarpa is a single-stemmed, unarmed, reclining or erect palm from the extreme northern coastal regions of South America, growing to some 12 m tall. It has been introduced and cultivated in tropical regions all over the world. The trunk is about 30 cm across, with prominent leaf scars. The crown is made up of about 30 plume-like leaves or fronds, each about 8 m long, dead leaves being persistent. It is one of some 7 species of palm in the genus Phytelephas, all of which have been exploited for vegetable ivory or tagua from the seed or corozo nut. The closely related Ammandra decasperma from Colombia, and Aphandra natalia from Ecuador, are also sources of vegetable ivory, but of inferior quality and therefore not commercially significant. 'Phytelephas macrocarpa' translates to 'elephant plant' with 'large fruit', the endosperm of the nut having the texture of elephant ivory, and consisting of large, thick-walled cells of two long-chain polysaccharides, mannan A and B.

Overview

All data

40 statements · 57% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Taxon common name: ivory nut palm
1
Sources
1.Stated in United States Department of Agriculture Plants DatabaseRetrieved 2016-06-07
View statement on Wikidata ↗
象牙椰
1
Sources
1.Stated in A dataset on catalogue of alien plants in China
View statement on Wikidata ↗
肖特象牙椰
1
Sources
1.Stated in A dataset on catalogue of alien plants in China
View statement on Wikidata ↗
泽曼象牙椰
1
Sources
1.Stated in A dataset on catalogue of alien plants in China
View statement on Wikidata ↗
slonokoščena palma
1
Sources
1.Stated in Lexicon of Plant Riches
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Short name: P. macrocarpa

On other databases

27 identifiers linking Phytelephas macrocarpa across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

57%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 28, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Phytelephas macrocarpa (Q160336). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/phytelephas-macrocarpa-Q160336