Rita and in Bocas del Toro. In Nicaragua it occurs in the departments of Río San Juan and Zelaya. As of 2022 the Plants of the World Online website claims it occurs in Colombia, but this is referenced to a source (Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia) which does not mention this species at all. Other older sources also state it occurs in Colombia. Ecology Habitat Astrocaryum alatum occurs from sea level to an altitude of 1,000 metres, or 15 to 400 metres in Nicaragua, or 0 to at least 800 metres in Costa Rica. It is not a habitat specialist in general; Although it occurs in numerous habitats, it is particularly abundant in swamp forests. It can germinate and survive in soft, watery mud, as well as firm soil, but avoids constantly submerged ground. It is also common in disturbed, cleared forest land, mature secondary woodland and deforested pastures. This species also occurs in higher altitude upland rainforest, but in this habitat it occurs as an understory palm at relatively low densities, whereas it is often found in very high abundance in swamps. It does have some specific microclimate preferences in swamp forests, its distribution is primarily aggregated in two specific phytosociological associations, a specific type of inundated palm swamp and a mixed hardwood swamp dominated by Pterocarpus officinalis (this is locally called sangrillo). The habitats often intergrade to some extent. Although it is a very common species in both habitats, it not a dominant species in either. There are a number of different types of palm swamp forests in Central America, A. alatum enjoys a particular low-biodiversity, high-density Manicaria saccifera-dominated swamp which is inundated up to a meter deep at times, although the ground is drained a number of times a year -the ground is covered in water most of the year, but usually the water table is very close to soil level. M. saccifera is a superficially very similar palm. The water is often brackish. This swamp-type is very densely planted with hundreds of trees a hectare, many of them hardwoods. Most of this habitat is found in the lowlands along the Caribbean coast, and it is very common within Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge and Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica, extending deep into central eastern Nicaragua, but also is recorded to occur in Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, and along the Pacific coast in the