Socratea

Socratea is a genus of five species of palms found in tropical Central America and South America.^[1][2][3]

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]
Metasocratea Dugand

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

• 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)