Arecaceae
Butia

Butia exospadix Noblick

First published in Palms (1999+) 50: 169 (2006)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Brazil (S. Mato Grosso do Sul) to NE. Paraguay. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

General Description
Stem solitary, acaulescent, subterranean 10–20 cm in diam. Leaves 2–7 in the crown, spirally arranged and spreading; leaf sheath plus petiole ca. 6–11 cm long, adaxially channeled and abaxially rounded, and glabrous; petiole without the leaf sheath 0–3 cm long and 0.3–0.5 cm wide and 0.2 cm thick at the base of the leaf blade; leaf rachis 3–10 cm long with 6–10 pairs of leaflets distributed evenly along the rachis closely crowded together in a congested manner; basal leaflets ca. 32–42 cm long × 0.1–0.2 cm wide, middle leaflets ca. 30–48 cm long × 0.3–0.4 cm wide, apical leaflets ca. 32–45 cm long × 0.1–0.2 cm wide. Inflorescence interfoliar, unbranched, 4.5–12 cm long with peduncle glabrous, 36–67 cm long × 0.15–0.2 cm diam.; peduncular bract 33–46 cm long with no apparent beak and the expanded or inflated part of the bract 5.5–16 cm long × 0.5–1 cm in width and with a 1.2–2.3 cm perimeter and a 0.5–1 mm thickness, tightly enveloping the peduncle; rachilla 1, ca. 4.5–12 cm long; pistillate (triad) flowering portion 1.5–2.5 cm long, number of pistillate flowers 9–17 and the staminate flowering portion measuring 4–6 cm long. Flowers pale yellow to purple tinged, staminate flowers near the base of the inflorescence 3.5–4.0 mm long, sessile; sepals 3, distinct, linear, imbricate but briefly connate at base, acute to mucronate, membranous, glabrous; petals 3 distinct, unequal, obovate, valvate, fleshy, glabrous, with inconspicuous venation, ca. 3.5–4.0 × 2 mm, acute tips; stamens 6, pale yellow, distinct, 2.2–2.8 mm long, with filaments 1–2 mm long; pistillode trifid, not reflexed, less than 0.5 mm long. Pistillate flowers, globose to ovoid, sessile 3.5–4.0 × 2.5–3.5 mm; sepals, glabrous, without visible venation 3–3.5 × 2.5–3.2 mm, coriaceous, imbricate, sepals subequal, acute, keeled to faintly keeled at tip; petals 3, distinct, imbricate at base, valvate at apex, triangular, faintly nerved, especially near the base, glabrous, 2.5–3.5 × 2–3 mm, valvate portion 0.5–1.5 mm long, acute; gynoecium 2–2.7 × 1.5 mm. glabrous, stigma 0.5–0.8 mm long, and staminodes 0.6–0.7 mm long, 3– 6 dentate to smooth and truncate. Fruits purple when mature, 1.2–2.0 × 1.2–1.5 cm, ovoid; cupule (persistent perianth) reddish brown, 0.8–1.0 cm in diam. × ca. 0.3–0.4 cm high; petals longer than sepals, staminodial ring truncate, 1 mm high × 3–4 mm diam.; epicarp, dark purple when mature, smooth and glabrous; mesocarp pale yellowish, fleshy, non-fibrous ca. 1–2 mm thick; endocarp nearly spherical, ca. 1.0–1.6 × 1.0–1.3 cm, 1 mm or less thick, hard, bony, dark brown to nearly black, apex with no distinctive protuberance or beak, interior smooth, monovittate, round in crosssection, outer surface nearly smooth, pores 3 nearly even with surface and subequatorial, sutures visible especially at apex; seed 1, spherical to ellipsoidal, ca. 0.8–1.2 × ca. 1 cm, endosperm white, homogeneous. Germination remote tubular, eophyll simple, narrowly lanceolate.
Biology
Open grasslands and savannas (cerrados); flat terrain with deep sandy soils and with few, and sparsely distributed shrubs and trees, frequently associated with Allagoptera campestris. The plants are restricted to the open short grasses rather than in the adjacent low weedy scrub. Most of palms had flowers or developing immature fruit with only one with mature fruit in February.
Distribution
Known from the Paraguay–Brazil border in Canindeyú, Paraguay between Ypé Jhu (Paranhos, Brazil) and Capitán Bado (Colonel Sapucala, Brazil) just north of Itanana, and also from Alto Parana, an area now flooded by the Itaipu Reservoir.
Vernacular
jataí; poñy.
Diagnostic
acaule et subterreano; folium reduplicato-pinnatum foliolis 6–10, congestis, rhachide foliorum 3–10 cm longa; spica super spatham exerta.
[PW]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    • Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    • Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0