Hyospathe elegans
Mart.
(c) Jens-Christian Svenning, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Jens-Christian Svenning
(c) Guillaume Léotard, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Guillaume Léotard, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Palm heart, Cabbage, Fruit
Leaves - cooked. The apical bud, often known as a 'palm heart', is eaten as a vegetable. Eating this bud leads to the death of the individual stem because it is unable to make side shoots, however any other stems on the plant will continue to grow. The fruit is said to be edible, and has an acidulous watery quality.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows as an understorey plant in tropical rainforest. It grows up to about 1,000 m above sea level. It suits a warm, sheltered, moist position.
Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, South America, Suriname, Venezuela,
How to Identify
A palm. It grows up to 8 m tall. It can have one stem or a cluster of up to 8 stems. They are 1-3 cm across. The crown has 5-11 leaves up to 2 m long. The fruit are 1.2-1.6 cm long.
How to Grow
Grows best in a warm, sheltered, moist position. Plants are often found in quite dense shade in the forest.
Medicinal Uses
The palm heart is chewed as a preventative of tooth decay. Mixed with the roots of Euterpe precatoria, it is used as a remedy for the flu.
Other Uses
The leaves are are used for thatching huts. The stems are sharpened and used as spears.
Names & Synonyms
References (6)
- Balick, M.J. and Beck, H.T., (Ed.), 1990, Useful palms of the World. A Synoptic Bibliography. Colombia p 57 (As Hyospathe elegans)
- Fern, K., 2012, Tropical Species Database http://theferns.info/tropical/
- Gertsch, J. et al, 2002, Use and Significance of Palms (Arecaceae) among the Yanomami in South Venezuela. Journal of Ethnobiology 22(2):219-246
- Grayum, M. H., 2000, MBG: Research: Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica: Draft Treatments p 13
- Kew Plants of the World On line
- Marcia, M. J., et al, 2011, Palm Uses in Northwestern South America: A Quantitative Review. Bot. Rev. (2011) 77:462-570
