Alvimiais a new genus of climbing bamboo that occurs in a relatively small area of restinga of coastal Bahia, Brazil. It is easily distinguished from other genera of the New World by a combination of several features: fleshy fruits, flowers with two stamens arranged in pseudospikelets, and the climbing habit. The BrazilianAlvimia, MexicanOlmeca, and one Peruvian species ofGuaduaare the only bamboos from America with fleshy fruits, a feature also found in a few Asiatic bamboos such asDinochloa, Melocalamus, Melocanna, andOchlandra.Three new species inAlvimiaare described:A. auriculata, A. gracilis, andA. lancifolia.