The Acai or Assai Palm is native and/or planted throughout the Neotropics. The fruit are edible and the roots medicinal. Photo from the Colombian Amazon.
The Acai Palm fruit are an important food source in the tropics of South America. The tree is also a major source of palm hearts. Planted at Summit Park, Panama.
Euterpe oleracea. We didn't get to taste the fruit. We didn't even know what it was until Scott Zona helped us put a name on this palm. Growing at the Garden of Eden near Keanae on Maui.
Acai Palm of Palmero da Asai are cultivated massively in the Amazon Basin for Palm Hearts. Their fruit is also edible and important to indigenous groups. These are planted in Summit Park, Panama.