Chonta
Bactris setulosa

Family: Arecaceae

What it is like

A palm with many stems. Occasionally it can be a solitary palm. It has black spines. It grows 5-10 m tall and the stems are 6-10 cm across. There are 4-9 leaves. The leaf stalk has spines in clusters. They are 4 cm long. There are 45-60 leaflets on each side of the leaf. These are arranged irregularly and spread in slightly different planes. The flowering stalk has 39-60 flowering branches. The bract is covered with black spines. These are 1.5 cm long. The fruit are oval. They are 1.8-2 cm across. They are red-orange.

There are 239 Bactris species. There are 75 species in tropical America. Most Bactris have fruit that are edible but many are not attractive.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows between 100 and 1400 m altitude in Ecuador. It is most common between 500 to 1500 m altitude.

Countries/locations it is found in

Amazon, Andes, Colombia, Ecuador, Guianas, Peru, South America, Suriname, Venezuela

How it is used for food

Edible parts

Palm heart, fruit, cabbage

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Chonta chica, Chontilla, Jingapa, Macana, Macanilla, Sachachontarum

Synonyms

Bactris bergantina Steyerm.; Bactris circularis L.H.Bailey; Bactris cueca Crueg. ex Griseb.; Bactris cuvaro H. Karst.; Bactris falcata Johnston; Bactris kalbreyeri Burret; Bactris sworderiana Becc.;