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| Category: Palm |
| Family: Arecaceae (Palmae) (Palms) |
| Origin: Brazil (South America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Insignificant |
| Bloomtime: Not Significant |
| Synonyms: [B. odorata, Cocos odorata, C. australis, Hort.] |
| Height: 15-20 feet |
| Width: 10-15 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F |
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Butia capitata (Jelly Palm) - This feather palm forms a thick solitary trunk that grows to 1 1/2 feet in diameter and reaches 20 feet tall, usually with persistent leaf bases decorating the entire trunk. It has 5 to 10 foot long arching gray-green leaves that recurve almost back to the trunk. The leaf petioles are armed with teeth on the margins and there are 25 to 60 pairs of pointed bilobed narrow leaflets. The pink-tinged cream flowers emerge from a 2 to 3 foot long woody spathe in late spring to early summer and are followed by cherry-sized edible orange-yellow fruits that ripen in mid to late summer. Plant in sun or light shade with moderate watering. It is hardy to about 12 degrees F – possibly the hardiest of the feather palms. This is a highly ornamental palm that is used in California as well as in Southeastern states and Texas and can be grown as far north as Seattle on the west coast and Virginia on the east. Its fruit is tasty fresh and often described as both sweet and tart and it makes a great jelly – these fruit are sometimes called pindo dates and the plant is also sometimes called the Pindo Palm for a location in Brazil. These fruit can be fermented and the plant is also called Wine Palm though not to be confused with the Chilean Wine Palm, Jubaea chilensis. This plant is from the coastal plains of Uruguay and along the Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. The name for the genus is a corruption of the Brazilian name used to describe one of the species in the genus and the specific epithet is from the Latin 'capit' meaning "head" with the connecting suffix 'ata' or 'atus' meaning "likeness of" in reference to the dense heads of growth on this palm. Palm Biologist Larry Noblick of the Montgomery Botanical Center has made a compelling case that the plant in the nursery trade under the name Butia capitata is really Butia odorata (syn. Cocos odorata) and that true Butia capitata is rare plant from central Brazil that is much smaller. See the article about this titled "Validation of the Name Butia odorata" in journal Palms - Vol. 55(1) 2011. We continue to use the name Butia capitata while we await confirmation and general usage of the name Butia odorata.
Information displayed on this page about Butia capitata is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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