Butia, Woolly butia palm
Butia eriospatha

Family: Arecaceae

What it is like

A solitary palm. It grows 3-6 m tall. They are 50 cm across and rough. There are 25-30 leaves. They arch over. The leaf stalk has coarse spines along the edges. There are 50-90 leaflets on each side of the leaf. The leaflets are regularly arranged and spread our stiffly forming a V shape. The bract has a dense brown covering on the outer side. There are about 125 flowering branches. The fruit are round and 1.7-1.9 cm across. They are yellowish.

There are about 9 Butea species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. They grow in open areas and in Araucaria forests. In Argentina it grows between 700-1,100 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 9-11. Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens. In XTBG Yunnan. In Townsville palmetum.

Countries/locations it is found in

Argentina, Asia, Australia, Brazil (country/location of origin), China, South America

How it is used for food

The fruit is edible raw. They can be used for jellies and jams. The nut is edible. The nut is also used for oil. Fruit used to flavour alcoholic drinks. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer.

Fruit are popular.

Edible parts

Fruit, nuts, oil

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from fresh seed. Seed can take a long time to germinate. They can take 3-6 month to germinate.

Plants grow slowly.

Its other names

Local names

Butia-da-serra, Butiazeiro, Butia-veludo, Butia-branco, Butia-azedo

Synonyms

Butia eriospatha subsp. punctata Bomhard; Cocos eriospatha Mart. ex Drude; Cocos blumenavia Hort.; Syagrus eriospatha (Mart.) Glassman;