Wine palm, Palma real, Jagua
Attalea butyracea

Family: Arecaceae

What it is like

A large palm. The trunk is solitary and grey. It is smooth but with rings. It is 10-30 m tall and 40 cm across. The crown is dense with large erect leaves. The leaves are 5 m long. There are no leaf stalks. The leaf bases are broad and erect. The leaves have many broad leaflets. These are crowded along the midrib. Both ranks of leaflets are directed inwards. The flowering stalks are among the leaf bases. Each flowering stalk has a large fluted bract. The fruit are egg shaped. They are 4-5 cm long and 2-5 cm wide.

There are between (22) 30-71 Attalea species. Some authorities divide them among Attalea, Orbignya, Scheela and Maximiliana.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in dry forests in the Amazon.

Countries/locations it is found in

Amazon, Australia, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guiana, Mexico, North America, Panama, Peru, South America, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

How it is used for food

The terminal bud or cabbage is cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The sap collected after the removal of the apex is fermented and drunk. The seed of the fruit is eaten. It also yields an edible oil. They are mashed and mixed with roasted cooking bananas. The fruit can also be eaten.

Edible parts

Cabbage, sap, nuts, kernel, palm heart, seeds - oil, vegetable, fruit

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed. The seed germinate in 2-3 months.

Over 18-20 days the sap is collected and yields about 12 litres.

Its other names

Local names

Canambo, Chapaja, Corozo, Coyol real, Kadaba, Kadawe, Lukata, Mologwa, Palmera, Sapoje, Shapaja

Synonyms

Attalea cephalotes Poepp. ex Mart.; Attalea humboldtiana Spruce; Attalea macrolepis (Burret) Wess. Boer.; Attalea maracaibensis Mart.; Attalea osmantha (Barb. Rodr.) Wess. Boer.; Attalea pycnocarpa Wess. Boer.; Attalea rostrata Oersted Attalea wallisii Huber Cocos butyracea Mutis ex Linn.f.; Cocos regia Liebm. ex Mart.; Scheelea bassleriana Burret; Scheelea brachyclada Burret; Scheelea butyracea (Mutis ex L.f.) H. Karst.; Scheelea cephalotes (Poepp. ex Mart.) H. Karst.; Scheelea costaricensis Burret; Scheelea curvifrons L.H.Bailey; Scheelea dryandrae Burret; Scheelea excelsa H. Karst.; Scheelea huebneri Burret; Scheelea humboldtiana (Spruce) Burret; Scheelea liebmannii Becc.; Scheelea lundellii Bertlett; Scheelea macrolepis Burret; Scheelea magdalenica Dugand; Scheelea maracaibensis (Mart.) Burret; Scheelea osmantha Barb. Rodr.; Scheelea passargei Burret; Scheelea preussii Burret; Scheelea regia H. Karst.; Scheelea rostrata (Oerst.) Burret; Scheelea stenorhyncha Burret; Scheelea tessmannii Burret; Scheelea urbaniana Burret; Scheelea wallisii (Huber) Burret; Scheelea zonensis L.H. Bailey;