Astrocaryum vulgare
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Astrocaryum vulgare |
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Astrocaryum vulgare is a species of palm . It is native to the Amazon . The edible fruits of the species are used to extract oil.
description
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Vegetative characteristics
The species forms tuft-like, multi-stemmed groups from tightly packed, slender stems, less often single stems. It reaches heights of growth between four and nine (rarely ten) meters and a diameter of about 10 to 20 centimeters. The leaf scars on the trunk are circular. The trunks have densely standing, black-colored, irregular, somewhat flattened spines up to 22 centimeters in length.
The eight to sixteen rigid leaves have an axis (rachis) about three to four meters long, the petiole including the sheath reaches two meters in length, both are prickly like the trunk, whereby the spines towards the tip (apex) of the leaf become rarer . The approximately 100 linear leaflets (pinnae) of each leaf sit irregularly together in groups, they protrude in different directions and do not form a common plane. Their length reaches about 70 to 110, the width 1.5 to 4 centimeters. They are fresh green on the top and gray-green on the underside. The edge is ciliated with black bristles about 1 to 4 millimeters long.
Generative characteristics
The inflorescences sit upright between the leaves, they are surrounded by sheath-like bracts, which form a spathe , the outer reaches about one, the inner two meters in length, they are brownish in color. The inflorescence axis is about one meter long, it is branched into about 200 branches that reach about 25 centimeters in length. Your male part is about four inches long. Two to four of the female flowers are clustered at the base of each branch. These are about 12 to 15 millimeters long. The calyx and crown are roughly the same length and form an urn-shaped, whitish-scalyed flower shell, the edge of which is finely lashed. The male flowers are only three to four millimeters long, with a ring-shaped calyx and six stamens that are fused at the base. The smooth fruit is round, egg-shaped and bright orange when ripe. It reaches about 4.5 centimeters in length and 3.5 centimeters in diameter. It is a bit pointed at the end. The fruit cup is flat and about 2 centimeters in diameter. The pulp (mesocarp of the pericarp ) is fleshy and fibrous, with a thin, rock-hard endocarp about three millimeters thick. The fruits have one, rarely two seeds.
The species is from the related Astrocaryum aculeatum , whose distribution area connects to the south beyond the Rio Tapajós , due to the multi-stemmed growth, the urn-shaped instead of vase-shaped flower envelope and the same length of sepals and petals (with A. aculeatum the petals are shorter), as well as by the color of the ripe fruits (in A. aculeatum greenish to brownish).
Occurrence
Astrocaryum vulgare grows in the eastern Amazon, Brazil and the Guyanas . In Brazil it is widespread in Pará , Maranhão and Amapá , south to northern Tocantins and Mato Grosso , where it occurs in the transition zone between rainforest and shrub savannah. In the north, the area reaches French Guiana and Suriname , where it is restricted to the coastal region.
The species grows in the rainforest, but is far more common in the secondary forest and is considered a fault indicator in forests. It occurs on well-drained, usually sandy soils of the Terra Firme and the rarely flooded Várzea , occasionally on granitic rocky hills. She avoids waterfront. It is often found in the direct vicinity of human settlements on Terra Preta , where it is promoted for its usefulness; in some places it has also been settled as a cultural follower outside of its natural area. The species is very resistant to fire and so occurs even after slash and burn in pastureland. After felling, it sprouts out of the rootstock. Despite the spines, it is even occasionally planted in gardens.
The Tucumã palm is considered a pioneer plant with aggressive growth and the ability to produce new shoots after a fire. Seeds take up to two years to germinate. The palm grows slowly and only begins to produce fruit after eight years. The disease resistance and high productivity make this species an alternative for the production of biodiesel , as the running costs of a plantation are much lower than those of the oil palm .
Taxonomy
The genus Astrocaryum comprises about 40 species, of which 26 are found in Brazil, 8 in French Guiana and 9 in Suriname. Within the genus it is listed with eight other species in the sub-genus, section and subsection Astrocaryum .
The first description of Astrocaryum vulgare took place in 1824 in Historia Naturalis Palmarum , Volume 2, page 74, Table 62-63 by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius .
Common names in other languages
Common names Tucum or Tucumã-do-Pará in Brazil , Aouara in French Guiana , Wara Awara in Guyana , Awarra in Suriname .
Usage and symbolism
The seed of Astrocaryum vulgare is covered by an orange-colored, oil-containing pulp. On average, the fruit weighs 30 grams. 34% of this weight corresponds to the fruit pulp , which contains 14% to 16% oil ( tucum oil ). A fully grown specimen of palm can produce up to 50 kg of fruit per year. On average, you calculate 25 kg of fruit, which corresponds to around 2.5 kg of oil from the fruit pulp and 1.5 kg from the core. On one hectare of land, 400 palm trees with three producing trunks each can be planted. In total, this corresponds to 1200 palm trunks and leads to a yield of 4.8 tons of oil per hectare.
The seed husk is mainly used by indigenous people from the Amazon to make black rings . In the 18th century, this ring was considered a symbol of marriage for slaves and natives who could not afford to buy gold. In addition, the ring was also a symbol of friendship and resistance to the existing order - the freedom fighters. Today these rings are worn by Catholic missionaries as a symbol of solidarity with the poor and support in the struggle for equality, social justice and human rights . Some Amazon peoples also used them for blunt arrowheads that make a whistling sound when in flight.
The fibrous leaves are also used to make baskets. Some indigenous peoples also use root extracts for folk medicinal purposes.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jan Gerard Wessels Boer: The indigenous palms of Suriname. Brill, Leiden 1965. Mededelingen van het Botanisch Museum en Herbarium van de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht 25. 172 pages.
- ↑ Andrew Henderson, Gloria Galeano-Garces, Rodrigo Bernal: Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. Princeton University Press, 1997, 352 pages, ISBN 978-0-691-01600-9 .
- ^ A b Francis Kahn: The genus Astrocaryum (Arecaceae). In: Revista Peruana de Biología. 15 (supl. 1): 2008, pp. 31-48. download
- ^ A b Nigel Smith: Palms and People in the Amazon. Springer Verlag, 2014. 500 pages. Astrocaryum vulgare on pages 73 to 81. ISBN 978-3-319-05509-1 .
- ↑ a b Luiz Roberto Barbosa Morais: Química de oleaginosas: valorização da biodiversidade amazônica = Chemistry of vegetable oils: valorization of the amazon biodiversity. GTZ, Belém, PA: Ed. do author, 2009, OCLC 709379903 .
- ^ Jürgen Falbe, Manfred Regitz: RÖMPP Lexikon Chemie. Volume 6: T – Z , 10th edition, Thieme, 1999, ISBN 3-13-735110-3 , p. 4700.