''Jubaea'' is a genus of palms with one species, ''Jubaea chilensis'', commonly known in English as the Chilean wine palm or Chile cocopalm, and palma chilena in Spanish. It is native to southwestern South America and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to a small area of central Chile between 32°S and 35°S in southern

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, O'Higgins, and northern Maule regions. The extinct palm tree of

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

belonged to this genus as well. In 1991, the Easter Island palm was placed in its own genus, '' Paschalococos''. However, this has not been widely accepted.

Growth

In its area of natural distribution, young ''Jubaea''s tend to grow near adult specimens, preferring also sunny and vegetated sites. The thickest well-documented ''Jubaea'' was on the estate of J. Harrison Wright in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

. Its diameter "at shoulder height" was . The largest of several specimens at the Adelaide (South Australia) Botanic Garden in 1889 was stated to be thick at the base. A hollow (but living) ''Jubaea'' in the Ocoa Valley near La Campana National Park, Chile, is thick at its base, with no apparent taper in the lower trunk. The largest individual specimen of indoor plant in the world was the ''Jubaea chilensis'' at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

, which was cut off by staff in 2014 because it grew to the top of its greenhouse. Of the more than 2,600 known species of palms, ''Jubaea chilensis'' is the second most massive, exceeded only by the floodplain or river bottom variety of '' Borassus aethiopum''. Karsten and Schenck reported a maximum height of for ''Jubaea''.

Uses

The leaves can be used to weave baskets, and it has edible seeds, widely eaten and known as Coquito nuts. The sap can be used to make

palm wine Palm wine, known by several #Names, local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the Borassus, palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and ...

and palm syrup, although unlike other palms which can be tapped, the whole tree has to be felled; this is now restricted by legal protection.

Conservation

The species is partially protected within Chile, although pressures of human population growth and expansion of grazing areas have reduced the population of the Chilean wine palm in recent centuries. The collection of its seed and their predation by common degu may also have a negative impact for the growth of new generations of ''Jubea''. The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

considers the palm

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

. A recent study concluded that predation of the fruits by humans, the seeds by the exotic rat (''

Rattus rattus The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is ...

'') and the young seedlings by exotic rabbits is leading to seed dispersal collapse of this species, leaving it at risk of extinction in its natural habitat. File:Jubaea chilensis - quebrada 7 hermanas - Incendio Palmar El Salto, Viña del Mar, febrero 2012 por Pato Novoa 001.jpg, ''J. chilensis'' growing in habitat in Palmar El Salto, Viña del Mar, Chile File:Jubaea chilensis - Palmar El Salto 136 (14476062262).jpg, ''J. chilensis'' growing in habitat in Palmar El Salto, Viña del Mar, Chile File:Quebrada Rodelillo (4984832159).jpg, ''J. chilensis'' growing in habitat in Quebrada Rodelillo, Chile

Taxonomy

The species was originally described as ''Palma chilensis'' by Chilean botanist

Juan Ignacio Molina Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean-Spanish Jesuit priest, natural history, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Moli ...

in 1808. After being moved to other genera including '' Molinaea, Micrococos'' and '' Cocos'' by other botanists'','' it was finally placed in the genus ''Jubaea'' by French botanist

Henri Ernest Baillon Henri Ernest Baillon (; 30 November 1827 in Calais – 19 July 1895 in Paris) was a French botanist and physician. Baillon spent his academic career teaching natural history and publishing numerous works on botany. He was appointed to the Lé ...

in 1895, as ''J. chilensis'' (Molina) Baill. ''Jubaea'' is named after King Juba II.

History

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

examined these trees on visiting Chile in 1832 on the second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' and noted: In 1843, a specimen was grown from seed at

, London, England, and was moved into the Temperate House in 1863, eventually growing to . It was believed to be the world's tallest indoor plant, until it had to be felled in 2013 because it had outgrown the space available and could not be moved. It has been replaced by seedlings from the original tree.

Gallery

File:Jubaea chilensis (Fruit and nut) nuytsia pix.jpg, Fruits and nuts File:Kew.gardens.chilean.wine.palm.london.arp.jpg, World-record ''Jubaea'' at

, England File:Jubaea chilensis - Leverkusen, Germany.jpg, ''Jubaea chilensis'' in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

, Germany File:Jubaea Chilensis in California by Dan Lindsay.jpg, ''Jubaea chilensis'' growing in Goleta, California File:Onofrejarpa.jpg, Painting of a ''Jubaea'' by Chilean artist Onofre Jarpa

References

External links

* ttps://floridata.com/plant/187 ''Floridata'': Jubaea chilensis; description and places in Europe where it has been introduced*Philip W. Rundel (2002
The Chilean Wine PalmPalm & Cycad Society of Australia: ''Jubaea chilensis''
{{Authority control Attaleinae Monotypic Arecaceae genera Flora of central Chile Trees of Chile Flora of the Chilean Matorral Trees of Mediterranean climate Vulnerable flora of South America Garden plants of South America Ornamental trees Drought-tolerant trees Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon Taxa named by Juan Ignacio Molina