| 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]
- ^ 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.