Attalea butyracea

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Attalea (at-tahl-EH-ah)
butyracea (boo-tih-rah-SEH-ah)
Attalea butyracea Ho.jpg
Ho'omaluhia, Hawaii.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Attalea (at-tahl-EH-ah)
Species:
butyracea (boo-tih-rah-SEH-ah)
Synonyms
Scheelea cephalotes
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Height: 30m
Culture
Sun exposure: Full Sun
Survivability index
Common names
Yagua Palm, Palma Real, Corozo, Jaci palm, American Oil Palm, Shapaja.

Habitat and Distribution

Attalea butyracea is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Widespread in Central America and W South America from Mexico to Bolivia, mostly below 300 m elevation. In Ecuador it occurs E of the Andes, often in relatively large stands in flood-plain forest. Wet savannah.

Description

Canopy palm with large 'shuttlecock' shaped leaves. Trunk solitary, to 25 m tall and 30-55 cm in diameter, sometimes with persistent bases on the distal part. Leaves arching, with twisted leaf axis so that the distal part of the blade stands in a vertical plane; pinnae to 200 on each side, regularly inserted in one plane, the central ones 120-160 cm long and 6-7 cm wide, with prominent, wavy cross veins. Inflorescence erect, ca. 1 m long, with 100-300 branches, to 30 cm long. Male flowers pale yellow, with club shaped petals 10-20 mm long, and 6 stamens of the same length as the petals. Female flowers 5-25 per branch, about 15 mm long. Fruits 1-4 per branch, light brown to orange at maturity, 5-12 cm long, with 1-3 seeds. (Borchsenius, F. 1998) Editing by edric.

Culture

Requires: Hot, sunny and consistently moist soil. will tolerate poor drainage. Hot, sunny and moist. Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a.

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: Leaves are used for thatching the outer coveringof traditional houses. Medicinal and cosmetic - The roots are used in extracts for hepatitis. Edible mesocarp. Fruit. Amazon. Río Guaviare. Edible nut. Seed. Amazon. Río Guaviare. Palm heart. Stem. Amazon. Río Guaviare. Beetle larvae from decaying stem. Stem. Amazon. Río Guaviare. Fruits for cattle and pigs. Fruits. Cauca valley.



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).



Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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