Attalea dubia

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Attalea dubia, also known as the Indaiá plant, babassu palm, or bacuaçu palm is a flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, native to the Southern and Southeast Regions of Brazil. The species grows to 25 metres (82 ft) tall and has a trunk diameter of about 35 centimetres (14 in). An evergreen monocot with a moist and tropical habitat, it has a sturdy, columnar, woody trunk and palmate leaves. The species was first described in 1929 in Notizblatt des Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin-Dahlem where the authors, working for the botanical garden and museum in Berlin and with Freie Universität Berlin, cataloged plant, algal, and fungal taxonomy. There are male and female flowers in the same bunch, 1–1.5 m long. The male flowers are distributed in two rows per bunch, with sepals 1–2 mm long and flat and pointed petals, 8–20 mm long by 1.5–2.5 mm wide, and 6–10 stamens. The female flowers are larger, measuring 25–40 mm in length and 15–17 mm in diameter. The hardiness of A. dublia's seeds, resulting from their tough endocarp and their need to be buried for germination, make them difficult to germinate with germination taking between 4–6 months. Attalea dubia's fruit are predated upon by two primary organisms: A beetle species known as Pachymerus sp. and a rodent species known as Dasyprocta leporina (red rumped agouti). Both prey on the fallen fruit from the palm and work in competition with one another.