phytelephas

Thesaurus

Noun

phytelephas - small genus of South American feather palmsgenus Phytelephasplant genus - a genus of plantsArecaceae, family Arecaceae, family Palmaceae, family Palmae, palm family, Palmaceae, Palmae - chiefly tropical trees and shrubs and vines usually having a tall columnar trunk bearing a crown of very large leaves; coextensive with the order Palmalesivory palm, ivory plant, ivory-nut palm, Phytelephas macrocarpa - a stemless palm tree of Brazil and Peru bearing ivory nuts

Phytelephas

a genus of dioecious plants of the family Palmae. The plants have a short arborescent stem and pinnate leaves measuring 3–6 m long. The staminate flowers have numerous stamens—in some species more than 1,000—and are gathered into long cylindrical spadices. The pistillate flowers are in dense capitate inflorescences. The ovary is four- to six-valved; one seed develops in each valve. The oval seeds are the size of a hen’s egg; they are used as food. The endosperm of unripe seeds is in the form of a milky juice. Upon ripening, the endosperm becomes solid and is used, under the name of vegetable ivory, to manufacture buttons, chess pieces, and other articles.

There are about 15 species, distributed in tropical South America. The plants are found mainly in the Andes, at elevations of 1,500–1,800 m above sea level. Seeds of the species P. macrocarpa are especially valuable and are exported from Ecuador and other countries.

phytelephas

Related to phytelephas: Phytelephas macrocarpa, Tagua nut, Tagua palm, Phytelephas aequatorialis

noun

Synonyms for phytelephas

noun small genus of South American feather palms

Synonyms

genus Phytelephas

Related Words

plant genus
Arecaceae
family Arecaceae
family Palmaceae
family Palmae
palm family
Palmaceae
Palmae
ivory palm
ivory plant
ivory-nut palm
Phytelephas macrocarpa