JELLY PALM OR WINE PALM, Butia capitata

Also known as the Wine Palm.

So you've heard of the other well know fruit palms, the coconut palm and the date palm. Well the lesser known (for fruit) jelly palm is just as highly sought after for its fruits. This South American palm is native to Brazil and is the hardiest feather-leafed palm currently in wide cultivation.

The Butia or Jelly palm yields a host of edible and useful products. They have large stalks of golden fruit in clusters. The fruit is green before it ripens, then turns golden, sometimes having a reddish tinge when ready to eat. Soft, tasty flesh surrounds a hard seed that looks like a miniature coconut. Simply peel the flesh away and eat it, prepare a soft puree, or use Butia Palm fruit in jelly. The taste is delicious and starts out like apple and transforms into tropical like flavours similar to an apricot/banana mix. Although delicious when eaten fresh they are most often preserved due to their stringy fibrous flesh. Jelly palm fruits are picked as they ripen. If whole bunches are harvested, they tend to ripen all at once. They keep well under refrigeration for around a week.

The palm has beautiful blue-green leaves that are strongly curved making it instantly recognisable. It is an essential palm for the exotic garden and is also a wonderful indoor plant providing light is adequate. For best results fertilize the Palm in the spring, and in mid summer. The spent leaves should be cut to improve its appearance.

A long living palm (over 20 years) it enjoys full sun or part shade and thrives in a sandy loam soil. Adequate moisture will greatly improve yields.

175mm | $17.90 AU | Seeking Propagation Material |

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Jelly Palm or Wine Palm

$3500 to $4000 : Daleysfruit are selling this edible palm at a bargain price of only about $15. If you visit landsendtexotics.co.nz you will see their cheapest is nearly $4000 ! | Rolf - Bankstown, NSW 20-Sep-2006

Updated: 13th of September, 2007 at 1:56pm © Disclaimer/Privacy/Copyright