Common Name:

General Information

Astrocaryum ulei is a spiny,evergreen palm stemless when young but developing a short stem with age. It produces a rosette of about 11 leaves that can be up to 5 metres tall including the petiole. The leaves are armed with flattened spines that can be 30cm long and 1cm wide at the base[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - northern Bolivia, northwest Brazil, Peru

Habitat

Terra firme forests[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	4.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

Fruit[]. The mature fruit develops a fleshy mesocarp enclosing a single, large seed[].
The liquid endosperm (developing seed) of the unripe fruits is probably drunk[].

We have no specific information for this species, but the fruits and seeds of various species are reported to be used for oil production in the Amazon region. Existing analyses of fruit fat content show a relatively homogeneous composition among species, with around 20% of fat content in the mesocarp, mostly composed of oleic and palmitic acids, and 20-35% of fat content in the endosperm, with a predominance of lauric acid[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The hard endocarp of various Amazonian species is commonly used to make beads and ornaments for necklaces[]

Propagation

Seed -

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