Butia purpurascens

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Butia (boo-TEE-ah)
purpurascens
(puhr-puhr-AHS-sehns)
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Rare Butia found in the municipality of Jataí - Goiás, Brazil, usually with purple fruits and petiole inermis, popularly know as broom coconut, photos taken in the habitat, quite rare due to deforestation for agricultural cultivation. Photo by Photo by Mauricio Moreira Caixeta.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Butia (boo-TEE-ah)
Species:
purpurascens
(puhr-puhr-AHS-sehns)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Brazil West-Central. At present, only known from cerrados in the state of Goias.
Rare Butia found in the municipality of Jataí - Goiás, Brazil, usually with purple fruits and petiole inermis, popularly know as broom coconut, photos taken in the habitat, quite rare due to deforestation for agricultural cultivation. Photo by Photo by Mauricio Moreira Caixeta.
This Butia comes from South central Brazil. It is a very rare Butia and only found in a small number of locations. (Nigel Kembrey-hardy-palms.co.uk.

Description

A very small trunked and elegant Butia named after its purple flowers and fruit, although this is not the rule and some forms also carry yellow flowers and fruit. The leaves vary from bluish-grey to green. The seed tends to be rather small in size and ovoid. It is the only Butia to have a spineless petiole. (Nigel Kembrey-hardy-palms.co.uk)

Small trees 1.2-4 m tall, about 15 cm in diam.; sheathing leaf base and petiole not clearly separated, combined length of about 4.9 cm; margins of petiole densely fibrous on lower half, becoming less fibrous toward base of rachis, not armed with teeth or spines; rachis of leaf 84-122 cm long; pinnae 52-58 on each side, more or less evenly spaced, middle ones 44-60 cm long, 1.6-1.8 cm wide, with long-acuminate, asymmetrical tips; expanded part of spathe frequently purplish, 71-80 cm long, 8-9 cm wide, smooth or striate, peduncular part 30-37 cm long; branched part of spadix frequently purplish, 60-64 cm long, peduncular part 41-48 cm long, rachillae about 50 or more, each 23-26 cm long; pistillate flowers more or less globose, frequently purplish, 5-6 mm long, 4.5-5 mm in diam sepals and petals about equal in size; staminate flowers frequently purplish, lower ones 6-7 mm long, with prominent pseudopedicel and calyx 2-4 mm long, upper ones 4-4.5 mm long with calyx 1.5-2.5 mm long; fruit ovoid, usually purplish. 2.3-2.9 cm long, 1.0-1.3 cm in diam., beak 4-5 mm long, persistent perianth 7-8 mm high, locules 1-2, mature seeds not seen. (S.F. Glassman, Re-evaluation of the Genus Butia With a Description of a New Species. 1979)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Macedo 3321 also seems to belong to B. purpurascens. It is 2-4 m tall, has petiole margins free of spines or teeth, and has other morphological characteristics which match closely; but no information is given on the color of the flowers. Cross sections of the pinnae, however, reveal a tissue pattern very similar to Butia archeri. The new species resembles Butia capitata superficially, but differs from it mainly in the smooth or fibrous rather than toothed petiole margins, the longacuminate rather than acute or obtuse tips of pinnae, and the purplish rather than greenish spathes, spadices, flowers, and fruits. It is assumed that the purplish color is due to anthocyanin pigments. When specimens were dried, some lost all of their purple color whereas others retained some or most of their color. From a morphological standpoint, Butia purpurascens seems to be most closely aligned to B. archeri because both taxa have smooth (not toothed) petiole margins, long-acuminate tips to the pinnae, staminate and pistillate flowers similar in size, and fruits similar in size, shape and number of locules. Butia archeri, as described by me (1968) , differs primarily in being mostly acaulescent, in the smaller dimensions of leaves, spathes, and spadices, and in the lack of the purplish color in flower and fruit parts. As I had expected, an examination of cross sections of the pinnae of B. purpurascens (Glassman 13076) reveals that its anatomical pattern matches the other seven species of Butia very closely, thus confirming its placement within this group. (S.F. Glassman, Re-evaluation of the Genus Butia With a Description of a New Species. 1979)/Palmweb.

Culture

It is not known in cultivation, although it shows considerable resistance to frost, taking at least -6°C and probably more. Due to its small elegant size it would make the perfect palm for a tropical look in cold areas although its very slow growth would be a limiting factor. It can also grow in subtropicals locations. Aside from its cold hardiness it is also a very drought and wind resistant. Cold Hardiness Zone: 9b. (Nigel Kembrey-hardy-palms.co.uk)

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Comments and Curiosities

Conservation: Threatened: A small palm tree known only from an area of cerrado in Goiás. The only confirmed population occurs near Jataí, where individuals are doing well. Trees in nearby pastureland are not regenerating. The subpopulation near Jataí is in an area protected by the Brazilian military. (IUCN Red List)

A smallish and very rare species from central Brazil, where it is found in savanna vegetation, often growing together with Syagrus flexuosa, Attalea and Allagoptera. It grows a slender trunk that can reach up to 4 m (13 ft.) tall and carries a small crown with elegantly arching, V-shaped, blueish-green leaves. As opposed to most other Butia, the leaf stalk does not produce any spines. The fruits are purple. Butia purpurascens is a robust and easy to grow palm for temperate, subtropical and dry tropical areas. As far as we know, seeds have not been commercially available ever. (RPS.com)



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).

S.F. Glassman, Re-evaluation of the Genus Butia With a Description of a New Species. 1979


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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