Euterpe edulis
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Euterpe edulis |
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| Mart. |
Euterpe edulis , also Jussara palm or Juçara palm , is a species of palm native to South Americathat has beenseverely decimatedby the extraction of the palm hearts .
features
The species forms single stems, it is rarely multi-stemmed and then with a few stems. The trunks are upright, 5 to 12 m high and 10 to 15 cm in diameter. The trunk surface is usually gray from lichen , at the base there is a reddish-brown cone of adventitious roots. These have a diameter of 1 to 2 cm.
The crown consists of 8 to 15 pinnate leaves . The leaf sheath is 0.8 to 1.4 m long, olive to dark green, sometimes with a reddish or orange tone. The surface is bare or covered with reddish brown scales. The leaf stalk is 13 to 54 cm long. The rachis is 1.5 to 3 m long. There are 38 to 62 (rarely 70) leaflets on each side. They are protruding or hanging, almost opposite, regularly arranged and provided with a clear central rib. The lowest leaflet is 29 to 50 cm long, the middle 49 to 80 cm and the leaflet at the top 15 to 35 cm.
The inflorescences appear between the leaves and are almost horizontal at flowering time. The inflorescence stalk is 4 to 8.5 cm long, the cover sheet up to one meter. The bract on the peduncle is 61 to 65 (rarely up to 104) cm long, further bract rudiments on the peduncle and axis are up to 4 cm long. The inflorescence axis is 45 to 69 cm long, the 49 to 110 (rarely 120) side branches that branch off from it are 26 to 58 (rarely up to 75) cm long. The flowers are in triads, at the end of the side branches in pairs or individually and are then male.
The male flowers are 5 to 6 mm long and purple. The stamens stand on a short receptaculum . The stamens are 1.5 to 2.5 mm long, the anthers 2.5 to 3 mm. The rudiment of the stamp is around 1 mm long and has three parts at the tip. The female flowers are 3 to 4.5 mm long.
The fruits are spherical with a diameter of 1 to 1.4 cm. The scar remains are subapical. The exocarp is black at maturity. The seeds are spherical, the endosperm homogeneous. The primary leaf is divided hand-shaped.
Distribution and locations
Euterpe edulis occurs on the Atlantic coast of Brazil and neighboring regions: Alagoas , Bahia , Distrito Federal , Espírito Santo , Goiás , Minas Gerais , Paraíba , Paraná , Pernambuco , Rio de Janeiro , Rio Grande do Norte , Rio Grande do Sul , Santa Catarina , São Paulo and Sergipe . The area also includes the northeast of Argentina ( Misiones ) and the southeast of Paraguay ( Departamento Alto Paraná ). The species grows in rainforests on rather steep slopes, rarely on flooded locations. It occurs up to an altitude of 1000 m.
It can form dense stands on slopes and ridges, especially above quartzite and on sandy soils. It also colonizes disturbed forest locations.
use
For many years Euterpe edulis was the most important supplier of palm hearts . In 1965 Paraguay exported 3,205 tons of palm hearts, which corresponded to the destruction of several million palm trees. Between 1968 and 1970, Brazil exported an average of 2,650 tons of palm hearts. The palm hearts were all obtained from wild stocks. The populations of Euterpe edulis therefore fell sharply, and use shifted to Euterpe oleracea .
The use of the trunks as construction timber, the leaves for roofing and the fruits for juice production is rather subordinate.
Systematics
The species Euterpe edulis was first described by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius in 1824 . Like the other members of the genus, the species is quite variable with many local forms. The species Euterpe espiritosantensis described by Boudet Fernandes in 1989 was not recognized by the editors of the monograph for Flora Neotropica, Henderson and Galeano (1996), because the characteristics are within the variability of Euterpe edulis .
supporting documents
- Andrew Henderson, Gloria Galeano: Euterpe, Prestoea, and Neonicholsonia (Palmae: Euterpeinae) . Flora Neotropica, Volume 72, New York Botanical Garden Press, New York 1996, pp. 1-90. (JSTOR)