| Oenocarpus bataua | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Genus: | Oenocarpus |
| Species: | O. bataua |
| Binomial name | |
| Oenocarpus bataua | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Oenocarpus bataua, the patawa, sehe, hungurahua (Ecuador) or mingucha, is a palm tree native to the Amazon rainforest. The tree produces edible fruits rich in high-quality oil. [3]
It is native to the tropical rainforests of South America and is abundant in the wet zones at elevations less than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Its distribution stretches from Panamá and Trinidad to the Amazon basin (Colombia, Venezuela, Guianas, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru). [2] Two varieties are recognized:
In Western Amazonia, O. bataua is one of the top three palm species in both frequency and abundance. It reaches its highest densities in soils of low to intermediate nutrient concentration. [4] In Colombia, it is usually found in sandy soils with a high organic matter content that are subject 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. [5]
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. [5]
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. [5]
Patawa fruits are used for cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical purposes. [6]
Traditionally indigenous peoples have collected the fruit and matured it in tepid water in order to prepare drinks and also to extract its oil. [5] Its drupes are 8–10% oil. The rachis have been used to manufacture arrows and the leaves to make baskets and construct provisional housings. [5] Additionally, Rhynchophorus palmarum larvae are harvested from the palm. [7]
Traditionally, patauá oil is used by Amazonian communities in fried foods. In Bolivia, the oil is known as aceite de majo. [8]
It is also used in cosmetic production, as it can be used as a tonic to soften the hair. [9]
The oil is used in traditional medicine to treat cough and bronchitis. [3]
The Amazon rainforest, also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories.
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, as well as the territory of French Guiana.
Bactris gasipaes is a species of palm native to the tropical forests of Central and South America. It is well spread in these regions, where it is often cultivated by smallholders in agroforestry systems or more rarely, in monoculture. Common names include peach palm in English, among others used in South American countries. It is a long-lived perennial plant that is productive for 50 to 75 years on average. Its population has an important genetic diversity, leading to numerous fruits, colors, and qualities. The fruits are edible and nutritious but need to be cooked for 30 minutes to five hours. They also benefit many animals in the wild. Peach-palms are also cultivated for the heart of palm, and the trunk can make valuable timber.
Terra preta is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil (anthrosol) found in the Amazon Basin. It is also known as "Amazonian dark earth" or "Indian black earth". In Portuguese its full name is terra preta do índio or terra preta de índio. Terra mulata is lighter or brownish in color.
Mauritia flexuosa, known as the moriche palm, ité palm, ita, buriti, muriti, miriti (Brazil), canangucho (Colombia), morete (Ecuador), or aguaje (Peru), is a palm tree. It grows in and near swamps and other wet areas in tropical South America.
Attalea maripa, commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up 35 m (115 ft) tall and can have leaves or fronds 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An edible oil can be extracted from the pulp of the fruit and from the kernel of the seed.
Astrocaryum vulgare is a very spiny palm native to the Guianas and the Amazon. It is species which has greatly benefited from deforestation, as it cannot grow in undisturbed rainforest. In Brazil it is considered typical of Pará state in the north of the lower Amazon. This plant has edible fruit.
Oenocarpus bacaba is an economically important monoecious fruiting palm native to South America and the Amazon rainforest, which has edible fruits. This plant is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. It can reach up to 20–25 metres tall and 15–25 cm in diameter. It grows in well-drained sandy soils of the Amazon basin.
Oenocarpus is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms (Arecaceae) native to Trinidad, southern Central and tropical South America. With nine species and one natural hybrid, the genus is distributed from Costa Rica and Trinidad in the north to Brazil and Bolivia in the south.
Lepidocaryum is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family from South America where the lone species, Lepidocaryum tenue, is commonly called poktamui. Nine species names have been published, but palm taxonomists currently agree that just one variable species includes them all. The most reduced member of the Lepidocaryeae, it is similar in appearance to three closely related genera, Mauritia, Mauritiella, and Lytocaryum. The genus name combines the Greek words for "scale" and "nut" and the species epithet is Latin for "thin".
Roystonea oleracea, sometimes known as the Caribbean royal palm, palmiste, imperial palm or cabbage palm, is a species of palm which is native to the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also reportedly naturalized in Guyana and on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
The Southwest Amazon moist forests (NT0166) is an ecoregion located in the Upper Amazon basin.
The South American palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum, is a species of snout beetle. The adults are relatively large black beetles of approximately one and a half inch in length, and the larvae may grow to two inches in length.
A várzea forest is a seasonal floodplain forest inundated by whitewater rivers that occurs in the Amazon biome. Until the late 1970s, the definition was less clear and várzea was often used for all periodically flooded Amazonian forests.
The Amazon biome contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and whitewater flooded forest, lowland and montane terra firma forest, bamboo and palm forest, savanna, sandy heath and alpine tundra. Some areas of the biome are threatened by deforestation for timber and to make way for pasture or soybean plantations.
The Negro–Branco moist forests (NT0143) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broadleaf forest to the east of the Andes in southern Venezuela, eastern Colombia and northern Brazil, in the Amazon biome. It lies on the watershed between the Orinoco and Rio Negro basins. It includes both blackwater and whitewater rivers, creating different types of seasonally flooded forest. The vegetation is more typical of the Guiana region than the Amazon.
The Purus-Madeira moist forests (NT0157) is an ecoregion in the central Amazon basin. It is part of the Amazon biome. The ecoregion covers a stretch of flat and relatively infertile land between the Purus and Madeira rivers, extending to the Solimões River in the north. It is isolated from other regions by the seasonally flooded várzea forest along these rivers, and has a high degree of endemism among its flora and fauna. The natural environment is relatively intact. The BR-319 highway was built along the length of the ecoregion in the early 1970s, but rapidly deteriorated and is now closed.
The Juruá–Purus moist forests (NT0133) is an ecoregion in northwest Brazil in the Amazon biome. The terrain is very flat and soils are poor. The rivers flood annually. There are no roads in the region, and the dense rainforest is relatively intact, although plans to extend the Trans-Amazonian Highway through the region would presumably cause widespread damage to the habitat.
Caryodendron orinocense, commonly known as cacay, inchi or orinoconut, is an evergreen tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae.
Data related to Oenocarpus bataua at Wikispecies