Descripción: Palma que alcanza de 5 a 15 m de alto. Tronco solitario o múltiple, cubierto de espinas negras, largas, delgadas y cilíndricas. Hojas pinnadas y arqueadas hacia la punta, de 2-3 m de largo, con 60 o más folíolos a cada lado del raquis. Pecíolo y raquis con espinas. Inflorescencias con espatas muy espinosas, pendulares y colgantes. La especie es monoica. Flores amarillas. Frutos en drupas ovoides, de 3-5 cm de largo, colgando de racimos que pueden tener más de 100 frutos, verdes, tornándose amarillos, rojos o anaranjados al madurar, internamente con mucha pulpa y una semilla pequeña.

Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas y medianas elevaciones, en bosques húmedos o muy húmedos. En Panamá se encuentra en las provincias de Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Colón, Panamá y la comarca de Guna Yala. También ocurre como planta cultivada en muchos lugares de Panamá. Florece y fructifica durante todo el año.

Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK ast1st Astrocaryum standleyanum LK2 , pero en A. standleyanum el tronco es solitario y las espinas son aplanadas.

Usos: El tronco se emplea en la construcción de ranchos. El palmito es utilizado como alimento en muchos países de Centro y Sur América. Los frutos tienen gran valor alimenticio y se consumen después de cocidos.

Monoecious tree, 5-20 m tall; trunk solitary or clustered, 10-15 cm diam, the internodes ca 20 cm long, densely armed with spines to 10 cm long. Leaves irregularly pinnate, to 3 m long; rachis 2 m long or more, sparsely armed; leaflets to 120 pairs, in clusters of 4 each, stagger-angled, 50-60 cm long, ca 3 cm wide, sparsely short-pilose on underside of veins, the margins entire or very sparsely setose, the cross-veins prominent. Inner spathe woody, less than 70 cm long, finely tomentose and armed with spines ca 1 cm long; spadix 30 cm long above branches; peduncle unarmed; rachis short; rachillae 25-30, minutely ferruginous-puberulent, 20-30 cm long, densely flowered, the pistillate flowers interspersed among the staminate ones, often associated with staminate flowers in triads, the flowers subtended by short distinct bracteoles; staminate flowers white, 4-5 mm long, broad and flat at apex, puberulent as on rachillae; petals 3, stout, concave, acute at apex; floral envelope truncate; 8-10 mm long, ca 9 mm wide, the flowers weakly sunken. Fruits orange-red, ovoid, to ca 5 cm long; seed 1. Croat 11798, 14479.

Bocas Species Database

Habitat: This palm tree usually grows on the edges of primary forests and is present between sea level and up to an altitude of 1200m.   Distribution: This palm is reported from Central America, Panama, Colombia, Peru and Amazonian Brazil.   Natural History Notes: The Peach Palm is originated from tropical America. The oldest archaeological evidence of cultivation is from Costa Rica and dates from 2300 to 1700 B.C. Indigenous populations have always praised this palm for its nutritional content rich in vitamin A and energy. It contains also twice as much protein as the banana. Pejibaye is not eaten raw but is rather cooked in salty water and cooled down and often served with mayonnaise. The heart of the palm, called “palmito”, is obtained from the new shoots and is a delicacy often eaten in salads. Bactris gasipaes has the commercial advantage of growing fast and the first harvest can be from 18 to 24 months after planting. The fruit is harvested twice a year and can provide 13 bunches of fruit, each of about 12 kg, per harvest.   Characteristics: A healthy tree can live for 75 years and can reach a height of 20 m and above. It is a multi-stemmed tree. We can note the presence of spines on the internodes of the stems (regions between the leaves) and on the leaf cover. Those spines can reach a length of 5 cm. The leaves are compound and can be up to 2.5 m long and are divided into small leaflets. Each stem can contain up to 9 clusters of flower. The staminate (flower producing pollen) and the pistillate (flower producing ovule) are produced within the same flower cluster, but there are more staminate flowers than pistillate flowers present in the cluster. The fruit of the Peach Palm is called Pejibaye and is generally dark red or yellow when it reaches maturity. It has a diameter of 5 cm and contains a single seed, but sometimes it can be seedless.