Region: tropical Americas, southern Mexico, Caribbean,Paraguay, northern Argentina. English: Grugru palm; Macaúba palm; Coyol palm; Macaw palm; Coco paraguayo; Paraguayan coconut.
Synonym: Acrocomia lasiospatha; Acrocomia sclerocarpa; Acrocomia vinifera.
Use: biodiesel; nut, sliced into thin circles, worn as rings; ‘milked' from the trunk to ferment into alcoholic coyol wine.
Botany: palm, to 20 m tall; trunk up to 50 cm in diameter, with numerous slender, black, viciously sharp 10 cm long spines; leaves pinnate, 3 m long, with numerous slender, 1 m long leaflets; petioles covered with spines; flowers small, produced on a large branched inflorescence 1 m long; fruit yellowish-green drupe ± 4 cm in diameter, shell is very tough to break, with one single, dark brown, nut-like seed with dry white filling tasting like coconut