Tepejilote
Chamaedorea sartorii

Family: Arecaceae

What it is like

A small narrow palm. It has a single stem. This is 0.6-4 m tall and 0.8-1.6 cm across. There are 3-6 leaves that have leaflets along the stalk. There are 5-10 leaflets on each side. They are S shaped and 20-40 cm long and 4-7 cm wide. The flowering stalk is erect and branched. The male stalks have 30 hanging flowering branches densely covered with flowers. The females have 4-8 flowering branches. These have bright orange petals. They fruit are oval and 0.9-1.2 cm long by 7-8 mm wide. They are black.

There are about 100 Chamaedorea species. They are mostly in Central America. There are 77 species in tropical America.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in rainforest often on limestone soils. It grows between 100 and 1,300 m altitude.

Countries/locations it is found in

Central America, Honduras, Mexico, North America

How it is used for food

Edible parts

Flowers

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Chamaedorea aurantiaca Brogn.; Chamaedorea hartwegii hort.; Chamaedorea mexicana hort. in Heynh.; Chamaedorea oblongata (H.Wendl.) H. Wendl.; Chamaedorea oblongata var. conferta H. Wendl.; Chamaedorea wobstiana hort. in Linden; Eleutheropetalum sartorii (Liebm.) Oerst.; Eleutheropetalum sartorii var. conferta H. Wendl. in Burret; Morenia oblongata H. Wendl.; Morenia sartorii hort. in Ruffo; Nunnezharia aurantiaca (Brong.) Kuntze; Nunnezharia sartorii (Liebm.) Kuntze;