Bactris gasipaes
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Bactris gasipaes stems |
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Bactris gasipaes stem spines |
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Bactris gasipaes stem spines |
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Bactris gasipaes leaves |
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Bactris gasipaes leaves speading in multiple planes. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
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Bactris gasipaes adaxial leaf rachis with tomentum |
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Bactris gasipaes abaxial leaf rachis with tomentum |
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Bactris gasipaes abaxial leaflet tips (Note: apical leaflets wider than other leaflets) |
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Bactris gasipaes abaxial leaflet hairs |
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Bactris gasipaes infructescence with fruit and spiny bracts. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
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Bactris gasipaes fruit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
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Bactris gasipaes seed. (MBC photo: 030890-1). Photograph courtesy of Montgomery Botanical Center http://www.montgomerybotanical.org/ |
Common name
peach palm, chonta
Description
Stems: Clustering, upright stems to 15 m tall and up to 25 cm in diameter, with rings of black or brown spines. Leaves: Pinnatepinnate:
like a feather; palms with pinnate leaves usually have compound leaflets attached to a rachis, although a pinnate leaf may be entire with pinnate veins (e.g., <em>Chamaedorea metallica</em>)
, reduplicatereduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create an upside-down V-shape, with the margins lower than the midrib (so that rain might "run off the roof"), the folding is reduplicate.
to 4 m long, with linearlinear:
term to describe leaves and leaflets that are narrow with nearly parallel margins; like a line
leaflets in groups of 2-5 along the rachisrachis:
an extension of the petiole through the blade of a pinnate leaf to which leaflets are attached
and spreading in multiple planes. Upper and lower leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
surfaces green with a spiny petiole. Flowers and fruits: Spine-covered, woody bracts (up to 1.5m long) cover inflorescences that are branched to one order. Yellowish-white male and female flowers are borne on the same inflorescenceinflorescence:
the reproductive structure of a flowering plant, including palms, consisting of flowers and associated bracts
. The edible fruits (2.5-5 cm) are yellow-orange to red-orange when ripe.
Diagnostic features
Field: Erect palm with dark needle-like spines on clustering stems and leaves with plumoseplumose:
softly feathered
leaflets that are green on upper and lower surfaces
Lab: Straight, white hairs on abaxialabaxial:
away from or the side of an organ facing away from the axis (<strong>ab </strong>as in <strong>ab</strong>andon); for example, the lower surface of a leaf blade or petiole
surface
May be confused with
Acrocomia aculeata: Both species are spiny, but Acrocomia aculeata is single-stemmed, while Bactris gasipaes is a multi-stemmed or clustering palm. Leaflets of Bactris are green, not whitish, on the undersides.
Aiphanes palms: These species are also spiny, but they have praemorsepraemorse:
with a jagged edge or like a fish tail
(fish-tail) leaflets, while Bactris gasipaes has linear linear:
term to describe leaves and leaflets that are narrow with nearly parallel margins; like a line
leaflets (except for the apical leaflet which is more or less praemorsepraemorse:
with a jagged edge or like a fish tail
).
Distribution
Widely cultivated throughout Central America and northern South America
Additional comments
Peach Palm is an important crop in many tropical countries, cultivated for both the edible fruit (cooked to make a starchy snack) and the palm heart which has the potential to be sustainably harvested because, unlike solitary palms, this multi-stemmed palm is not killed when the heart (meristem) is cut.
Scientific name
Bactris gasipaes Kunth
Family
Arecaceae/Palmae
Synonyms
Bactris gasipaes Kunth
Bactris ciliata (Ruiz & Pav.) Mart.
Bactris insignis (Mart.) Baillon
Bactris speciosa (Mart.) Baillon
Bactris utilis (Oerst.) Benth. & Hook. F. ex Hemsl.
Guilielma ciliata (Ruiz & Pav.) H. Wendl.
Guilielma gasipaes L.H.Bailey
Guilielma speciosa Mart.
Guilielma utilis Oerst.
