Copernicia alba

Palm with a cylindrical trunk, topped with evergreen leaves. The inflorescence can be 2 m long. Copernicia alba is a South American species of palm tree, which is found in the humid part of the Gran Chaco ecoregion in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. They often, but not always, form dense single-species woodlands. Its common name in Spanish show the various colours (and technical qualities) that its wood and/or bark takes according to its environment: palma blanca, palma negra, palma colorada. In Guaraní it is called caranday, “water palm”. Copernicia alba can reach 25 m in height and 40 cm in girth. The trunk is cylindrical, rarely bifurcated, and has a grayish bark with a smooth surface in adult specimens. The leaves are persistent, grouped at the apex of the trunk, and measuring between 40 and 70 cm. The inflorescence is almost 2 m long; the flowers are hermaphroditic.