Socratea
Appearance
	
	
| Socratea | |
|---|---|
| Socratea exorrhiza stilt roots | |
| Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae | 
| Clade: | Tracheophytes | 
| Clade: | Angiosperms | 
| Clade: | Monocots | 
| Clade: | Commelinids | 
| Order: | Arecales | 
| Family: | Arecaceae | 
| Subfamily: | Arecoideae | 
| Tribe: | Iriarteeae | 
| Genus: | Socratea H.Karst.  | 
| Synonyms[1] | |
  | |
Socratea is a genus of five species of palms found in tropical Central America and South America.[1][2][3]
It is commonly believed that Socratea can move away from where it germinated by growing roots on one side and abandoning them on the other. Attempts to detect this behavior have failed.[4] What is known for a fact is that these roots can, in the case of S. montana, grow to a length of 16.5 feet (five meters) and up to three inches (eight cm) in diameter.[5]
Species
[edit]- Socratea exorrhiza (Mart.) H.Wendl. - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, northern and western Brazil (States of Amazonas, Amapá, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima)
 - Socratea hecatonandra (Dugand) R.Bernal - Colombia, Ecuador
 - Socratea montana R.Bernal & A.J.Hend. - Colombia, Ecuador
 - Socratea rostrata Burret - Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
 - Socratea salazarii H.E.Moore - Peru, Bolivia, western Brazil (State of Acre)
 
References
[edit]- ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
 - ^ Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
 - ^ Henderson, A. 1990. Arecaceae–Part I. Introduction and the Iriarteinae. Flora Neotropica, Monograph 53: 1–100
 - ^ Can 'Walking Palm Trees' Really Walk? At: Live Science
 - ^ Henderson, Andrew (May 2, 1990). "Arecaceae - Part 1". Flora Neotropica. 53: 84.