Features:
Common name: Woolly Butia
Family: Arecaceae
Origin: South America
Height at maturity: 6 meters
Hardiness: -12°C
Exposure: sunny, light
Plant type: palm
Vegetation: perennial
Foliage: evergreen
Flowering: spring
Flower color: yellow
Type of soil: any type except limestone, supports sea spray
Watering: always fresh
Use: in the garden, isolated, pot
Diseases and Pests:-
Toxicity: edible fruit
Storage of seeds: 3 years in a dry place away from light at 3/4°C (refrigerator)
Description:
Butia eriospatha is very similar to Butia capitata.
The stipe is solitary and quite wide, sometimes reaching 6 meters in height. It is gray in color and retains the base of the petioles for a long time, which form sorts of large scales.
Butia eriospatha is distinguished by a spathe inflorescence covered with brown to purple woolly down. Flowering is monoecious. The flowers are yellow. The fruits are round drupes of about 2 cm, orange and reputed to be edible.
This palm supports a wide range of soils provided they are well drained, except for soils that are too calcareous. The species is endemic to an area in the extreme southeast of Brazil. It grows in grassy areas and Araucaria forests.
The climate is subtropical: mild winters with rare frosts, and hot summers.
The species is quite rare in cultivation.
The species is threatened. It is classified on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable.
