Bactris setulosa

Bactris (BAHK-triss) setulosa (seh-too-LOH-sah)
Photo-Rare Palm Seeds.com
Scientific Classification
Genus: Bactris (BAHK-triss) Species: setulosa (seh-too-LOH-sah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
Morphology
Habit: Clustering Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Jingapá Palm, Chonta.

Habitat and Distribution

The Andean region of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, as well as Surinam and Trinidad.

VENEZUELA: Henri Pittier National Park. Photo by Dr. S. Heckscher.

Distribution in Ecuador. In W Ecuador the species is common in tropical moist forest and premontane wet forest up to 1000 m altitude (rarely to 1700 m), in E Ecuador it occurs in premontane wet forest at 1300-1700 m elevation, the highest altitude recorded for any Bactris species.

Description

Understorey palm. Stems clustered, 5-10 m tall and 10-15 cm in diameter, densely armed with black spines. Leaves 1.5-3 m long; pinnae 30-70 on each side, inserted in groups and spreading in different planes, the central ones 60-100 cm long and 5-9 cm wide, usually with a dense cover of short bristles. Inflorescence 30-60 cm long; branches 30-60, to 30 cm long. Female flowers scattered along the branches. Fruit red, more or less globose, 15-20 mm in diameter; fruiting perianth with a very small calyx and a much longer, cupular corolla; staminodial ring absent. (Borchsenius F., Borgtoft-Pedersen H. and Baslev H. 1998. Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. AAU Reports 37. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catalica del Ecuador)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Plants from the two sides of the Andes have been thought to represent separate species with different ecological preference, but the only morphological difference noted is that plants from the E slopes have more or less glabrous inflorescence branches, whereas plants from the W slopes have the whole inflorescence more or less brown tomentose. (Borchsenius F., Borgtoft-Pedersen H. and Baslev H. 1998. Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. AAU Reports 37. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catalica del Ecuador)/Palmweb.

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: Bactris Setulosa is highly valued by the local population for its edible fruits. For this reason, it is often left when the forest is cleared for pasture, and appears to be some interest in cultivating this species. Bactris setulosa (chonta) grows up to 1400 m altitude. The red fruits (2 cm diameter) are cooked or roasted and the pulp eaten. Seed - raw or cooked, has a coconut-like flavour. The apical bud, often known as a 'palm heart', is eaten as a vegetable. Stems are used for house construction; when placed in the ground they will last up to 12 years, in cement even longer; one stem is sold for 30 sucres. The woody part of the trunk serves for frames used in connection. Hand-made Venezuelan sandals (alpargata). The alpargatas are woven with various colors of cotton thread, and started on a wooden support, which is derived in this section of Venezuela from the woody trunk of this species of Bactris.

A mildly clustering, slender stemmed Bactris from the northwesternmost corner of South America in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad, where it grows in rainforests between sea level and 1800 m (5900 ft.) in the Andes mountains, making it one of the most cool-tolerant species in the genus. With up to 17 m (57 ft.) tall, it is also one of the largest Bactris, and, despite being somewhat spiny, a beautiful ornamental, similar to B. gasipaes. (RPS.com)