Oenocarpus bataua
| Oenocarpus bataua | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Tribe: | Areceae |
| Subtribe: | Euterpeinae |
| Genus: | Oenocarpus |
| Species: | O. bataua |
| Binomial name | |
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Oenocarpus bataua Mart. 1823 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The patawa, sehe, hungurahua (Ecuador) or mingucha (Oenocarpus bataua or Jessenia bataua) is a palm tree native to the Amazon rainforest, that produces edible fruits rich in high quality oil.
It is native to the tropical rainforest and is abundant in the wet zones at elevations less than 1,000 m (3,300 ft), from Panamá, Trinidad, and northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Guianas, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru). Two varieties are recognized:
It is usually found in sandy soils with a high organic matter content that are subsequent to flooding, possibly because there are few other species which compete with it. It can grow extremely well on unflooded soils as witnessed by high-density stands in the pastures of the Colombian Chocó, though it is rarely found on terra firma in the wild since competition from other species is such that it rarely gets the high light levels it needs to set fruit.
Its stem is solitary, erect, 10–25 m (33–82 ft) in height and 2–3 dm (8–12 in) diameter, smooth, and ring-shaped. It has 10–16 leaf terminals, petiole 10–50 cm (3.9–19.7 in), rachis 3–7 m (9.8–23.0 ft) long; with leaflets up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long and 15 cm breadth, approximately 100 to each side, placed in the same plane.
The blossom is 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in–6 ft 7 in) long, with about 300 rachilas up to 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) length. The flowers are yellow with sepals 2 mm (0.079 in) and petals 7 mm (0.28 in) long.
Patawa fruits are a resource for cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals purposes.
Traditionally indigenous peoples have collected the fruit and matured it in tepid water in order to prepare drinks and also to extract its oil. Its drupes are 8–10% oil. The fresh meolo is edible too. Additionally, Rhynchophorus larva are harvested from the palm.
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Wikipedia