Jubaea chilensis
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 Specimen at the Los Angeles Arboretum | ||||||||
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Jubaea spectabilis | ||||||||
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Habitat and Distribution
Native to central Chile between 32°S and 35°S latitude. It is the sole species in the genus Jubaea.
Description
Jubaea chilensis is a single-trunked, pinnate-leaved palm growing to 20-25 m tall. The trunk is the stoutest of any palm, commonly a metre diameter at the base, sometimes up to 1.3 m diameter, often widest in the upper part of the trunk, with smooth grey bark.
The dark green pinnate leaves are 3-5 m long, with pinnae to 30-50 cm long closely spaced along the rachis. Despite the length of the leaves, they often look disproportionally small compared to the massive trunk, particularly on larger trees. The leaf bases persist as grey-brown stubs for a while on young trees, but fall cleanly on mature trees.
The species is monoecious, with male and female flowers in separate panicles but on the same tree. They are produced on long, branched panicles. The fruit is green at first, ripening bright yellow, oval to globose, 4-5 cm long and 4 cm diameter, with a single large grey-brown seed 2.5 cm diameter; the fruit pulp is edible, but does not have a very good flavour. The nuts, called coquitos ("little coconuts") in Spanish, are also edible after cracking the hard shell, similar to coconut in texture and flavour.
Cultivation
Jubaea chilensis is possibly the hardiest of the pinnate-leaved palms, tolerating temperatures down to about -12°C, about the same as for Butia capitata, though more tolerant of winter wet than that species. This makes it popular in cooler temperate areas with a winter-wet mediterranean climate, though its very slow growth (particularly when young) and difficult availability in the past mean it is still a rare tree in most areas. Older cultivated trees often produce abundant fruit, so seedlings are becoming more widely available.
Photo gallery
Inflorescenes
Trunk detail
Fruit after seed extraction
Huntington
Seedling
Young tree showing persistent leaf bases at first
Petioles
Lotusland, California
Lotusland, California
Unhappy in Orlando
