Copernicia alba is a
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
n species of palm tree, which is found in in the humid part of the
Gran ChacoThe Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided between eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. This land is sometimes called the Chaco Plain.-Geography: The Gran Chaco is...
ecoregion in
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
,
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(in the states of
Mato GrossoMato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country....
and
Mato Grosso do SulMato Grosso do Sul is one of the states of Brazil.Neighbouring states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay and Bolivia to the west...
) and
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
(especially the
provinceArgentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of
FormosaFormosa Province is in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Its northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively...
, and less abundantly towards drier areas). They often, but not always, form dense single-species woodlands. Its
common nameA common name is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with a scientific name...
in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
show the various colours (and technical qualities) that its wood and/or
barkBark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
takes according to its environment:
palma blanca,
palma negra,
palma colorada ("white", "black" and "red" palm, respectively).
Copernicia alba is a
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
n species of palm tree, which is found in in the humid part of the
Gran ChacoThe Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided between eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. This land is sometimes called the Chaco Plain.-Geography: The Gran Chaco is...
ecoregion in
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
,
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(in the states of
Mato GrossoMato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country....
and
Mato Grosso do SulMato Grosso do Sul is one of the states of Brazil.Neighbouring states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay and Bolivia to the west...
) and
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
(especially the
provinceArgentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of
FormosaFormosa Province is in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Its northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively...
, and less abundantly towards drier areas). They often, but not always, form dense single-species woodlands. Its
common nameA common name is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with a scientific name...
in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
show the various colours (and technical qualities) that its wood and/or
barkBark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
takes according to its environment:
palma blanca,
palma negra,
palma colorada ("white", "black" and "red" palm, respectively). In
GuaraníGuaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí-Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by 88% of the population, with half of the...
it is called
caranday, "water palm". Its English trade name is
wax palm or
caranday wax palm (it belongs to the same
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
as the Carnauba wax palm).
Ancient peoples in
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
used wax palm for making candles by scraping away wax on the leaves.
C. alba can reach 25 m in height and 40 cm in girth. The trunk is cylindrical, rarely bifurcated, and has a grayish bark with a smooth surface in adult specimens. The leaves are persistent, grouped at the apex of the trunk, and measuring between 40 and 70 cm. The inflorescence is almost 2 m long; the flowers are hermaphroditic, about 4 mm long, with a tubular yellowish green corolla, and arranged in a spiral pattern. Each flower has three ovaries, of which only one develops into a globular fruit, a dark pulpous berry that contains a light-brown, 12 mm long ovoid seed.
Young specimens have a lightweight semi-hard wood, which becomes hard and heavier in grown-up individuals, reaching a
relative densityRelative density, sometimes called specific mass or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity usually means relative density with respect to water...
of up to 0.92. This wood finds its main use in telephone and electrical line poles.
In
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
Copernicia Alba / Karanda’y is currently studied for its suitability as a
BiodieselBiodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
oil crop.