Very large seeds, 2 to 4cm in diameter!
Features:
Common name: Coconut of Chile, Chilean wine palm
Family: Arecaceae/Palmaceae
Origin: South America, Chile
Height at maturity: 25 meters
Hardiness: -12°C
Exposure: sunny, light, partial shade
Plant type: palm
Vegetation: perennial
Foliage: evergreen
Flowering: summer
Flower color: dull yellow
Type of soil: deep, fresh and draining
Watering: normal without excess
Use: isolated, veranda, pot or tray
Diseases and pests: the butterfly Paysandisia archon
Toxicity: not determined
Storage of seeds: 2 years in a dry place away from light at 3/4°C (refrigerator)
Description:
The Jubaea chilensis is the largest of the palms. it offers impressive dimensions. Its stipe (trunk) is very massive, it can reach 1 to 2 meters in diameter in adulthood (some subjects up to 5 meters!) and it easily reaches 25 meters high.
Its leaves are pinnate, and the crown that these form is also impressive because it is very massive and luxuriant (from 40 to 50 leaves). Indeed, the leaves are 3 to 5 meters long and are composed of many linear leaflets, rigid greenish yellow to dark green.
In summer small, dull yellow flowers appear on panicles 1 to 1.5 meters long, but this palm does not flower until it is 60 years old. The fruits are edible and look like small coconuts 4cm in diameter, yellow in color.
The cold resistance of the Chilean coconut palm makes it an interesting subject for cultivation in a temperate climate, it easily resists to -12°C.
