Parajubaea cocoides

Mountain Coconut
Quito palm
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Parajubaea
Species: P. cocoides
Binomial name
Parajubaea cocoides

Parajubaea cocoides, the Mountain Coconut, Coco Cumbe or Quito palm, is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family. It occurs in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

Description

Palms up to 16 m tall, trunk up to 45 cm in diameter.[1][2] Leaves 3–4 m long, dark green above, grayish green beneath, with 60-70 pairs of segments or pinnae, the longest pinnae in the middle up to 70 cm long.[2][3] Inflorescence 1–2 m long, with 50-70 short branches.[2] Fruit ellipsoid, 4-5.5 cm long, 2.8–4 cm in diameter, greenish brown.[1]

Parajubaea cocoides next to the Cathedral, at Cuenca, Ecuador.

Distribution and habitat

Known only from cultivation in the Andean valleys of southern Colombia and Ecuador at elevations of 2000–3000 m.[1][3] However, an alleged natural population was reported in a town in northern Peru at 1900 m.[4]

Uses

P. cocoides is cultivated as an ornamental palm for parks and avenues.[5] Outside its area of origin, it is found in cultivation in San Francisco, Sydney, Costa del Sol, and northern New Zealand.[3][5] The fruits are edible.[3][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Henderson, Andrew; Galeano-Garces, Gloria; Bernal, Rodrigo (1997). Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. Princeton University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0691016003.
  2. 1 2 3 Borchsenius, Finn; Pedersen, Henrik Borgtoft; Balslev, Henrik (1998). Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. Department of Systematic Botany, Aarhus University in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. p. 153. ISBN 9788787600538.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Del Cañizo, Jose Antonio (2011). Palmeras (in Spanish). Mundi-Prensa Libros. ISBN 9788484763994.
  4. ↑ Roca, F (2010). "Parajubaea cocoides, a new record for Peru". Palms. 54 (3): 133–136.
  5. 1 2 3 National Research Council. (1989). Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. p. 319-321
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