Butia (Becc.) Becc., Agric. Colon. 10: 489 (1916)

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Distribution

Map uses TDWG level 3 distributions (https://github.com/tdwg/wgsrpd)
Argentina Northeast present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Brazil Northeast present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Brazil South present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Brazil Southeast present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Brazil West-Central present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Paraguay present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Uruguay present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Nine species confined to cooler, drier areas of South America, in southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Discussion

  • Butia differs from Jubaea in having only six rather than numerous stamens and in the usually conspicuously toothed petioles. Anodorhynchus macaws feed on the endosperm of Butia yatay (Yamashita and Valle 1993). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Diagnosis

  • Small to moderate, solitary or clustered pinnate-leaved palms, native to cooler parts of south America; the petioles are usually with toothed margins, the staminate flowers have 6 stamens and the endosperm is homogeneous. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Biology And Ecology

  • Often gregarious in grasslands,‘campo rupestre’, ‘cerrado’ and woodlands in the lowlands. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Common Name

  • Yatay palms, jelly palms, butiapalms. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Etymology

  • Derived from a Portuguese corruption of a vernacular name, mbotiá, said to be from mbo — to make, and tiá — those who have incurved teeth, presumably referring to the teeth on the petiole. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Uses

  • Mesocarp of Butia capitata is edible and can be madeinto jams; several species are widespread as slow-growingcold-tolerant ornamentals. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Description

  • Small to moderate, solitary or clustered, armed or unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious palms. Stem subterranean to erect, generally not tall, obscured by remains of leaf bases, eventually becoming bare, marked with close leaf scars. Leaves pinnate, small to large, arching; sheaths tubular at first, disintegrating into a fibrous network, often densely tomentose; petiole short to long, channelled or flat adaxially, rounded or angled abaxially, proximally unarmed and bearing scattered fibres or armed with coarse spines decreasing in size distally until represented by short teeth, variously caducously scaly or glabrous, often glaucous; rachis usually curved, adaxially angled or flattened, rounded or flattened abaxially; leaflets single-fold, usually numerous, regularly arranged, held stiffly in the same plane, linear, acuminate, acute, obtuse or asymmetrical at the tips, frequently glaucous, usually with crowded ramenta on the abaxial surface of the main vein near the rachis, transverse veinlets obscure. Inflorescences solitary, interfoliar, shorter than the leaves, branching to 1 order, apparently protandrous; peduncle ± rounded in cross-section, short to long, ± glabrous or with scattered caducous scales; prophyll short, flattened, tubular, 2-keeled, usually hidden by the leaf sheaths, becoming fibrous with age, splitting at the tip, persistent; peduncular bract inserted near the prophyll, much longer, tubular, enclosing the inflorescence until shortly before anthesis, tightly sheathing proximally, beaked distally, splitting longitudinally along the abaxial face to expose the flowers, expanding distally and becoming cowl-like, smooth or becoming longitudinally striate with age, adaxially glabrous, abaxially glabrous, scaly, or very densely tomentose; rachis shorter or longer than the peduncle, bearing spirally arranged, relatively few to very numerous rachillae, each subtended by an inconspicuous triangular bract; rachillae rather stiff, ± zigzag, glabrous or minutely dotted, with a short to long, basal, bare portion, above which bearing few to numerous, spirally arranged triads proximally, paired or solitary staminate flowers distally, the distal-most rachillae sometimes entirely staminate, the flower groups close or relatively distant, superficial; rachilla bracts and floral bracteoles inconspicuous. Staminate flowers sessile or briefly pedicellate, slightly asymmetrical; sepals 3, distinct or joined at the base, narrow, triangular, membranous, ±keeled, acute; petals 3, distinct, or very briefly connate at the base, valvate, at least 3 times as long as the sepals, ± fleshy, ovate to triangular; stamens 6, filaments distinct, awl-shaped, elongate, anthers elongate, medifixed, versatile, basally sagittate, introrse; pistillode shorter than the filaments, trifid. Pollen ellipsoidal, frequently elongate, usually with either slight or obvious asymmetry; aperture a distal sulcus; ectexine tectate, perforate and micro-channelled, or perforate-rugulate, aperture margin may be slightly finer; infratectum columellate; longest axis 38–57 µm; post-meiotic tetrads tetrahedral, occasionally tetragonal, or rarely, rhomboidal [4/9]. Pistillate flowers much larger than the staminate, globose to ovoid, ± symmetrical; sepals 3, distinct, broadly imbricate, coriaceous, somewhat keeled, triangular, the tips conspicuously hooded; petals 3, ± the same length as and similar to the sepals, distinct, broadly imbricate, the tips briefly valvate; staminodal ring well developed as a free, fleshy collar surrounding the base of the ovary, irregularly minutely lobed; gynoecium ± ovoid, trilocular, triovulate, stigmas 3, conspicuous, reflexed at anthesis, ovules hemianatropous, laterally attached to the ventral angles of the locules, septal canals present, opening at the bases of the stigmas. Fruit 1–3-seeded, spherical, oblate, or ovoid, yellow, brown, or purplish, with a short to long beak and apical stigmatic remains; epicarp smooth, mesocarp thin to thick, pulpy or fleshy, sometimes sweet, fibrous, endocarp thick, bony, with 1–3 developed cavities, the pores lateral below the equator or subbasal. Seed basally attached, conforming to the shape of the endocarp cavities, endosperm homogeneous, solid; embryo opposite the endocarp pore. Germination and eophyll not recorded. Cytology: 2n = 32. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Anatomy

  • Leaf (Glassman 1979), root (Seubert 1998a,1998b), floral (Uhl and Moore 1971). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Fossil record

  • Two small palm endocarps included in Palmocarpon luisii, from the Maastrichtian of Brazil, State of Parahyba do Norte (Rio Gramame) are compared with members of the Cocoseae (Maury 1930). One is described as being about the size and form of the living Cocos eriospatha but more deformed. (Cocos eriospatha = Butia eriospatha; see Govaerts and Dransfield 2005.) However, the endocarps illustrated do not show three pores and could in fact belong to a quite different family of flowering plants (see also under Syagrus). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Relationships

  • Butia is monophyletic with high support(Gunn 2004). The genus is highly supported as sister to Jubaea(Gunn 2004, Baker et al. in review). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Taxonomic accounts

  • Glassman (1979) and Noblick (2006). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Bibliography

    A. Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms
    B. World Checklist of Arecaceae