- Oenocarpus bataua
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Oenocarpus bataua Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Subclass: Commelinidae Order: Arecales Family: Arecaceae Tribe: Areceae Subtribe: Euterpeinae Genus: Oenocarpus Species: O. bacaba Binomial name Oenocarpus bataua
Mart. 1823[1]Varieties O. b. var. bataua (Mart.) Burret
O. b. var. oligocarpa (Griseb. & H.Wendl.) A.J.Hend.The patawa, sehe, hungurahua (Ecuador) or mingucha (Oenocarpus bataua or Jessenia bataua) is a palm tree native to the Amazonia, that produce eatable fruits rich in high quality oil.[2]
Contents
Distribution and habitat
It is proper of the tropical rainforest and abundant in the wet zones at elevations less than 1000 m, from Panamá to South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyanas, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.[3]
Description
Its stem is solitary, erect, 10–25 m (33–82 ft) in height and 2–3 dm (8–12 in) diameter, smooth, ring-shaped. It has 10–16 leaves terminals, petiole 10–50 cm, rachis 3–7 m long; with leaflets up till 2 m long and 15 cm breadth, approximately 100 to each side, placed in the same plane.[4]
The blossom is 1–2 m long, with about 300 rachilas up till 1.3 m length. The flowers are yellow with sepals 2 mm and petals 7 mm long.[4]
Uses
Traditionally the aboriginals have collected the fruit and mature it in tepid water in order to prepare drunks and also to extract oil[4]: its drupes, contains 8–10% oil. The fresh meolo is eatable too. Besides, in these palm grow eatable larvas of Rhynchophorus.[5]
The oil is used by traditional medicine to mitigate cough and bronchitis[2] and to fortify the hair.
The rachis have been used to manufacture arrows and the leaves to make baskets ant construct provisional housings.[4]
In the future, this palm could be industrialized for oil production,[2] because its quality and its adaptation in poor soils and its abundant production of fruits.
Synonyms
- Oenocarpus batawa Wallace (1853), orth. var.
- Jessenia polycarpa H.Karst. (1857).
- Jessenia oligocarpa Griseb. & H.Wendl. ex Griseb. (1864)
- Jessenia repanda Engl. (1865).
- Jessenia bataua (Mart.) Burret (1928).
- Jessenia weberbaueri Burret (1929).[3]
References
- ^ Martius, Carl von. 1823. Historia Naturalis Palmarum II: 23. Lipsiae (Leipzig): T.O. Weigel.
- ^ a b c Vallejo Rendón, Darío 2002. "Oenocarpus bataua, seje"; Colombia Amazónica, separata especies promisorias 1. Corporación Colombiana para la Amazonia –Araracuara- COA.
- ^ a b "Oenocarpus bataua var. bataua". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?accepted_id=138050&repSynonym_id=-9998&name_id=138050&status=true. Retrieved 17 de agosto de 2009.
- ^ a b c d Galeano, Gloria 1991. Las palmas de la región del Araracuara. Bogotá: TOPEMBOS - Universidad Nacional. Segunda edición, 1992, p.p. 146-148.
- ^ La Rotta, Constanza 1990. Especies utilizadas por la Comunidad Miraña: 296-297. Bogotá: WWF - FEN.
External links
Categories:- Palms
- Flora of Panama
- Flora of Venezuela
- Flora of Colombia
- Flora of Bolivia
- Flora of Ecuador
- Flora of Peru
- Flora of Brazil
- Fruit
- Medicinal plants
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