Mauritia flexuosa

Native to tropical South America, this solitary palm grows beside rivers and streams and in swamps. It can reach about 80 feet tall. Small cream-coloured flowers occur on long, drooping branches, with male and female flowers borne on separate palms. The rounded fruits have distinctive overlapping reddish-brown scales around yellow-orange flesh. The fruit pulp is eaten fresh or made into juice, sorbets and other desserts. Oil from the pulp is used for cooking and soap-making. In Brazil, leaf fibres and strips of leaf stalk are woven into ropes, baskets and hammocks, while the leaves are used for roof thatching. Photographed in Colombia.