Butia yatay

Butia yatay, the jelly palm or yatay palm, is a Butia palm native to southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is known as the butiá-jataí in Portuguese in the south of Brazil, as well as simply jataí or butiá. It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental in Europe and the United States. It is the tallest of all the species in the genus Butia. The fruit is edible with a sweet flavour.

Description

An evergreen palm. It grows up to 4-5 m tall, but can be 12 m tall. The trunk has the leaf bases attached. The leaves are long and feather like. They are 2-3 m long and bright blue-grey. They curve over. The leaf stalk has spines. The large bract below the flower stalk had a waxy bloom and is hairy. The flowers are large 10-16 mm long. The fruit are large and yellow. They are 3-4 cm long. They are edible.

Edible Uses

The young leaf buds are eaten. The fruit are eaten raw and used to prepare a local brandy. The seeds are eaten and yield a fatty oil. The palm heart (cabbage) is also consumed.

Traditional Uses

The young buds are eaten. The seeds are eaten and yield a fatty oil. The fruit are used to prepare a local brandy.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The seeds yield a fatty oil.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions. They need a well drained soil and sunny position. They are fairly hardy to frost and can be grown in temperate areas. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Argentina*, Australia, Brazil*, Europe, India, Paraguay, South America, Uruguay,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. Seed are slow and erratic to germinate. They take 6 months to 2 years to germinate. The seed have a hard outer shell and cracking this may quicken germination.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in containers. Stored seed is very slow to germinate. Pre-soaking the seed for 24 hours in warm water prior to sowing may shorten the germination time. Plants form a long tap-root some time before forming a shoot. Germination of fresh seed usually takes place in 3 - 4 months at 25°c. Plant out into deep pots or the open ground either as soon as root growth is noticed or as soon as top growth appears.

Other Uses

The seed kernel is anthelmintic.

Production

Plants are generally slow growing.

Notes

There are about 9 Butea species.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Butiazeiro-jatai

References (19)

• Agric. Colon. 10(2):498, t. 5, figs. 1-2. 1916
• Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 92
• Balick, M.J. and Beck, H.T., (Ed.), 1990, Useful palms of the World. A Synoptic Bibliography. Colombia p 122 (As Butia yatay var. paraguayensis)
• Barbieri, R. L., et al, 2014, Agricultural Biodiversity in Southern Brazil: Integrating Efforts for Conservation and Use of Neglected and Underutilized Species. Sustainability 6:741-757
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 69

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