Oenocarpus mapora H.Karst.

A clumping palm. It can have 12 slender trunks in one clump. These can be 10-20 m tall. The trunks are 15 cm across. The trunks are spiny. There is a false crown-shaft which is like a narrow upside-down pyramid. It is 1 m long. The fronds are dark green above and silvery underneath and arching. They can be 1.3-5 m long on leafstalks 30-100 cm long. The leaflets droop. They are 60-100 cm long and regularly spaced. The new shoots are red. The flowering stalk is like a horse's tail. The flowers are creamy white. The fruit are mauve to purple. They are the size and shape or olives. They are 2.5 cm long.

A tropical plant. It suits the tropics and the subtropics. In South America it grows in rainforests at low altitude. It occasionally grows to 1,000 m altitude. It is often found in swamps.

The fruit are used to make drinks. The fruit are slightly cooked before eating. The seeds are edible. The terminal bud is used as a cabbage.

Plants are grown from seed. It can be grown from suckers. It is useful for producing edible shoots or cabbage as the harvested shoots are replaced by new suckers.