Aiphanes horrida
species of plant
Aiphanes horrida is a palm native to northern South America and Trinidad and Tobago. Aiphanes horrida is a solitary, spiny tree. In the wild it grows 3–10 metres tall (9–30 feet) tall with a stem diameter of 6–10 centimetres (2–4 inches); cultivated trees may be as much as 15 m (49') tall with a 15 cm (6") diameter. The epicarp and mesocarp of the fruit are rich in carotene and are eaten in Colombia, while the seeds are used to make candles. In parts of the Colombian Llanos, endocarps are used to play games.
The range of the species is found in dry forests between sea level and 1700 m (5600') above sea level in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, but is not native to Ecuador. The species is cultivated as an ornamental throughout the tropics.
Many authors, including Henderson et al. (1995) and Borchenius and Bernal (1996) use A. aculeata rather than A. horrida, giving Jacquin's description of Caryota horrida a publication date of 1809, three years after Willdenow's 1806 description. On the other hand, Govaerts et al.
The public source identifies “Aiphanes horrida” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Aiphanes, horrida and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4697596. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1700, 1995, 1996 and 1809.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aiphanes horrida” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.