Butia witeckii - new Butia specie

[kelen]

This is a new Butia specie that I was investigating since 2006, It is the Butia with largest fruit and endocarp of the genre.

I'm posting some photos of the Butia witecki specie, it occurs in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, where is very rare

Others informations = Article is available in http://cascavel.ufsm.br/revistas/ojs-2.2.2/index.php/cienciaflorestal/article/viewFile/3223/1787

best!

[kelen]

.

[Nigel]

Kelen, I am very happy you published this. I received some seeds from Lorenzi but they didnt germinate. This seed has an enormously thick endocarp for any butia.

Why do you think it is more closely related to yatay and not to odorata ?

I would like very much you come to florianopolis to see the Butia here. Next month I go to Rio Grande do Sul to see the true odoratas to compare with the species here which is similar, but is not the same.

[kelen]

.

[kelen]

Kelen, I am very happy you published this. I received some seeds from Lorenzi but they didnt germinate. This seed has an enormously thick endocarp for any butia.

Why do you think it is more closely related to yatay and not to odorata ?

I would like very much you come to florianopolis to see the Butia here. Next month I go to Rio Grande do Sul to see the true odoratas to compare with the species here which is similar, but is not the same.

Hi Nigel!

Thank you

The female flower have 2 cm long!!! Endocarp is long.

[kelen]

Trithrinax brasiliensis and Butia witeckii growing together.

[Nigel]

Kelen, I am very happy you published this. I received some seeds from Lorenzi but they didnt germinate. This seed has an enormously thick endocarp for any butia.

Why do you think it is more closely related to yatay and not to odorata ?

I would like very much you come to florianopolis to see the Butia here. Next month I go to Rio Grande do Sul to see the true odoratas to compare with the species here which is similar, but is not the same.

Hi Nigel!

Thank you

The female flower have 2 cm long!!! Endocarp is long.

Then it is for sure part of the yatay complex. beautiful pictures !!

[newtothis]

is that like sam witwickii from transformers

[pindo]

Congratulations Kelen !!!

Nice pictures and good information. We expect more pictures and details about this species.

Friendly . Jose

[edbrown_III]

Kelen,

Thanks for sharing and good show on your publication. I am just a hobbyest but salute the professional botanists

Best wishes,

Ed

[kelen]

Thank you Ed, Jose and Nigel! I have more these pics.

Part of key that I did to the paper..

4. Folhas com 43-61 pinas de cada lado da raque; pinas da parte mediana da raque com 40-65 x 2,3-2,8 cm; frutos maduros com 3,6-5,6 x 3,0-4,1 cm, pesando entre 23,61-43,05 gramas; endocarpo de frutos novos com 2,8-3,5 x 1,6-2,3 cm e pesando entre 3,61-10,11 gramas (pirênio) com 3 quinas longitudinais visíveis, conferindo uma forma quase triangular no lado onde ficam os poros de germinação.......................................................................................................... B. witeckii

4. Folhas com (57-) 63-78 pinas de cada lado da raque; pinas da parte mediana da raque com (58-) 65-77 x 2,0-2,4 cm; frutos maduros com 3,0-4,1 x 1,5-2,8 cm, pesando entre 8,91-15,39 gramas; endocarpo de frutos novos com 1,8-3,0 x 1,0-1,4 cm e pesando entre 1,42-2,96 gramas (pirênio) sem quinas longitudinais e com forma de cone no lado onde ficam os poros de germinação............................................................................................................................. B. yatay

I think Nigel or Alberto can help us wiyh a good translation!

[Nigel]

Thank you Ed, Jose and Nigel! I have more these pics.

Part of key that I did to the paper..

4. Folhas com 43-61 pinas de cada lado da raque; pinas da parte mediana da raque com 40-65 x 2,3-2,8 cm; frutos maduros com 3,6-5,6 x 3,0-4,1 cm, pesando entre 23,61-43,05 gramas; endocarpo de frutos novos com 2,8-3,5 x 1,6-2,3 cm e pesando entre 3,61-10,11 gramas (pirênio) com 3 quinas longitudinais visíveis, conferindo uma forma quase triangular no lado onde ficam os poros de germinação.......................................................................................................... B. witeckii

4. Folhas com (57-) 63-78 pinas de cada lado da raque; pinas da parte mediana da raque com (58-) 65-77 x 2,0-2,4 cm; frutos maduros com 3,0-4,1 x 1,5-2,8 cm, pesando entre 8,91-15,39 gramas; endocarpo de frutos novos com 1,8-3,0 x 1,0-1,4 cm e pesando entre 1,42-2,96 gramas (pirênio) sem quinas longitudinais e com forma de cone no lado onde ficam os poros de germinação............................................................................................................................. B. yatay

I think Nigel or Alberto can help us wiyh a good translation!

Kelen, the photo of the fruiting palm is remarkable. It illustatrates the difference perfectly. Not only is the fruit and seed enormous, but the number of fruits is very low for such a large tree. I am loving this thread.

[swolf]

Kelen, have you tasted the fruit from this butia? Does it taste as good, and is the fruit more or less fibrous (stringy) than other butias such as Odorata or Eriospatha? With the large fruit size I wonder if there's any 'hand fruit' market potential there?

Steve

St. Augustine, FL

[kelen]

Kelen, have you tasted the fruit from this butia? Does it taste as good, and is the fruit more or less fibrous (stringy) than other butias such as Odorata or Eriospatha? With the large fruit size I wonder if there's any 'hand fruit' market potential there?

Steve

St. Augustine, FL

Hi Steve!

the fruit is very sweet, not acidic. But it is too fibrous! It can be compared with the strong Syagrus oleracea fibers.

Kelen

[kelen]

Thank you Ed, Jose and Nigel! I have more these pics.

Part of key that I did to the paper..

4. Folhas com 43-61 pinas de cada lado da raque; pinas da parte mediana da raque com 40-65 x 2,3-2,8 cm; frutos maduros com 3,6-5,6 x 3,0-4,1 cm, pesando entre 23,61-43,05 gramas; endocarpo de frutos novos com 2,8-3,5 x 1,6-2,3 cm e pesando entre 3,61-10,11 gramas (pirênio) com 3 quinas longitudinais visíveis, conferindo uma forma quase triangular no lado onde ficam os poros de germinação.......................................................................................................... B. witeckii

4. Folhas com (57-) 63-78 pinas de cada lado da raque; pinas da parte mediana da raque com (58-) 65-77 x 2,0-2,4 cm; frutos maduros com 3,0-4,1 x 1,5-2,8 cm, pesando entre 8,91-15,39 gramas; endocarpo de frutos novos com 1,8-3,0 x 1,0-1,4 cm e pesando entre 1,42-2,96 gramas (pirênio) sem quinas longitudinais e com forma de cone no lado onde ficam os poros de germinação............................................................................................................................. B. yatay

I think Nigel or Alberto can help us wiyh a good translation!

Kelen, the photo of the fruiting palm is remarkable. It illustatrates the difference perfectly. Not only is the fruit and seed enormous, but the number of fruits is very low for such a large tree. I am loving this thread.

Yeah! I counted the fruits of various infructescenses to make comparison between species. B. witeckii don't produce as much quantity as B.yatay.

Another thing. Butia witeckii seeds are not attacked by insects, which is extremely common in any other Butia specie.

[Nigel]

Yeah! I counted the fruits of various infructescenses to make comparison between species. B. witeckii don't produce as much quantity as B.yatay.

Another thing. Butia witeckii seeds are not attacked by insects, which is extremely common in any other Butia specie.

Kelen, the fibrous fruit is another thing to separate from the round seeded butias , both eriosptha and odorata have sweet delicous fruits lacking fibres.

I am not surprised the boring insects do not attack the seeds, I doubt it is possible to penetrate such a thick endocarp, the few old seeds I received from Lorenzi were like parajubaea seeds, with enormously thick shells protecting the seed inside.

[kelen]

Yeah! I counted the fruits of various infructescenses to make comparison between species. B. witeckii don't produce as much quantity as B.yatay.

Another thing. Butia witeckii seeds are not attacked by insects, which is extremely common in any other Butia specie.

Kelen, the fibrous fruit is another thing to separate from the round seeded butias , both eriosptha and odorata have sweet delicous fruits lacking fibres.

I am not surprised the boring insects do not attack the seeds, I doubt it is possible to penetrate such a thick endocarp, the few old seeds I received from Lorenzi were like parajubaea seeds, with enormously thick shells protecting the seed inside.

Nigel, yes, but still can not compare Butia yatay, B paraguayensis, B. lallemantii fibers with B. witeckii fibers! However, the taste of fruit is very very good!

[Nigel]

Yeah! I counted the fruits of various infructescenses to make comparison between species. B. witeckii don't produce as much quantity as B.yatay.

Another thing. Butia witeckii seeds are not attacked by insects, which is extremely common in any other Butia specie.

Kelen, the fibrous fruit is another thing to separate from the round seeded butias , both eriosptha and odorata have sweet delicous fruits lacking fibres.

I am not surprised the boring insects do not attack the seeds, I doubt it is possible to penetrate such a thick endocarp, the few old seeds I received from Lorenzi were like parajubaea seeds, with enormously thick shells protecting the seed inside.

Nigel, yes, but still can not compare Butia yatay, B paraguayensis, B. lallemantii fibers with B. witeckii fibers! However, the taste of fruit is very very good!

Kelen, what is the climate data for this area ? How cold does it get ? I remember that area in summer when we went to see the trithrinax brasiliensis you told me about.

[kelen]

Kelen, what is the climate data for this area ? How cold does it get ? I remember that area in summer when we went to see the trithrinax brasiliensis you told me about.

The minimum temperature recorded for the region is -3ºC, but I have no doubt that this butiá will survive in even lower temperatures.

[kelen]

Lorenzi take a pic of Butia witeckii fruit and some fruit being attacked by ants.

[Takil-Explorer]

Well I hope the will protect that area where those Butia grow! It would be a shame when they plant pinetrees there or destroy it by introducing cattle!

Alexander

[kelen]

Well I hope the will protect that area where those Butia grow! It would be a shame when they plant pinetrees there or destroy it by introducing cattle!

Alexander

indeed, the vast majority of palm species, especially these from the open areas are highly endangered. To make matters worse, in Brazil politics are trying to deploy a new law that reduces the environmental protection areas. It is very sad!

I believe that the only way to preserve some species will be the ex-situ conservation.

Kelen

[Nigel]

Well I have to report a very disappointing couple of days, I drove all those dirt tracks in the places mentioned as being home to witeckii and found absolutely nothing.

One palm I think was witeckii at beginning of trek I didnt even stop to identify because i wanted to go the wild populations.

One thing it seems to make a fantastic butyagrus, I found a lot of butyagrus in the witeckii habitat. I cant be sure they were witeckii butyagrus becuase Butia odorata is everywhere in this region also, but the incidence in this location surely cant be coincidence.

[Nigel]

The habitat, emus included.

[Takil-Explorer]

The habitat, emus included.

Nigel,

That bird is not an emu, they are from Australia. This bird you saw is a nandu. The South American ostrich so to say.

Alexander

[Nigel]

The habitat, emus included.

Nigel,

That bird is not an emu, they are from Australia. This bird you saw is a nandu. The South American ostrich so to say.

Alexander

No, actually its a Rhea , and its 'Ema' in Brazil not Nandu.

I guess its not hardy and should only be kept in warm places.

[kelen]

Well I have to report a very disappointing couple of days, I drove all those dirt tracks in the places mentioned as being home to witeckii and found absolutely nothing.

One palm I think was witeckii at beginning of trek I didnt even stop to identify because i wanted to go the wild populations.

One thing it seems to make a fantastic butyagrus, I found a lot of butyagrus in the witeckii habitat. I cant be sure they were witeckii butyagrus becuase Butia odorata is everywhere in this region also, but the incidence in this location surely cant be coincidence.

Nigel, you should have searched the River Toropi. In the Butia witeckii paper there is the GPS point where (part) population of this palm can be found. In the region only B. odorata is cultivated, people in this region think B. witeckii too fibrous to be planted.

[kelen]

population

[Nigel]

In the region only B. odorata is cultivated, people in this region think B. witeckii too fibrous to be planted.

Kelen, are you aware that the Butia odorata cultivated so commonly there differs from the population near to Uruguay.

I referred to it as odorata because it is the nearest fit , but actually I could write a paper on it because the Butia in the intermediate range between the palms of Santa Vitoria da Palmar and the catarinensis on the coast is somewhat of an intermediate.

I think it needs further study.

[Tejastropicals]

You are correct, it is a Rhea. A flightless bird related to the Ostrich, Emu and Cassowary. There are actually two flightless birds in SA, the common Rhea pictured and the endangered Darwins Rhea. They are very cold tolerant and are raised without heat in the US as far north as southern Ohio.

[Nigel]

They are very cold tolerant and are raised without heat in the US as far north as southern Ohio.

David, thanks for confirmation, I knew they were cold tolerant, it was tongue in cheek because Alexander spends every night on every forum in every single thread with patronising cliches advising people with years of experience not to grow palms because they come from warmer climates and its starting to really annoy me.

[Alberto]

They are very cold tolerant and are raised without heat in the US as far north as southern Ohio.

David, thanks for confirmation, I knew they were cold tolerant, it was tongue in cheek because Alexander spends every night on every forum in every single thread with patronising cliches advising people with years of experience not to grow palms because they come from warmer climates and its starting to really annoy me.

Hi all, I´m back! Hi Nigel! what a shame you could not find the population!

´´Ema´´ in Portuguese (or´´nandu´´ in spanish) is a hardy bird because there were a few birds that could fleed from captivity in Holland and could survive there even in winter.....

Thanks Kelen for sharing this pics and story! This time you are describing the palm and not a ´botanics teacher´´ you told about the palm......;-)

Is the min.temp. only -3° there???What is the altitude of this region in Rio Grande do Sul?

What was your min temperature last freeze? Here it was -4.2°C at the lowest part of my property and -3°C closer to the house. This time my Parajubaeas didn´t suffer so much .....

[Nigel]

Hi all, I´m back!

Thank god for that, was really worried about you.

I was in mountains during the cold so i am guessing you have some devastation this year.

[Alberto]

Hi Nigel,

Yes I had some ´´dry leaflets´´´here to be optimistic.

I was expecting the cold only the following morning and not on the Monday morning (SIMEPAR metereologist) so I didn´t cover my tender palms. Specially the young B.alfreddi look VERY bad. The plant below araucaria canopy is fine and the ones exposed to the sky are defoliated. I hope they will recover. The P.torallyi look fine this time because they are bigger and they did not see frost last winter!!!

Some surprises! Young 3 leaves Basselinia tomentosa seedlings are pristine below canopy. Licuala spinosa defoliated below canopy!...........

Soon I´ll show some pics.

[Nigel]

How cold..... I am guessing you had around -7c from what they had in SC.

[kelen]

In the region only B. odorata is cultivated, people in this region think B. witeckii too fibrous to be planted.

Kelen, are you aware that the Butia odorata cultivated so commonly there differs from the population near to Uruguay.

I referred to it as odorata because it is the nearest fit , but actually I could write a paper on it because the Butia in the intermediate range between the palms of Santa Vitoria da Palmar and the catarinensis on the coast is somewhat of an intermediate.

I think it needs further study.

Hi Nigel, I know the Butias odorata that grown in the center of Rio Grande do Sul are somewhat different from those of the coast. However, this butia is not native from here. People were planting those butia odorata which produce larger and sweeter fruit. Brought from Uruguay or litoral. Over the years these plants have been selected towards domestication. I don't think they could be separated as a species, maybe as one possible cultivar.

[kelen]

Thanks Kelen for sharing this pics and story! This time you are describing the palm and not a ´botanics teacher´´ you told about the palm......;-)

Is the min.temp. only -3° there???What is the altitude of this region in Rio Grande do Sul?

What was your min temperature last freeze? Here it was -4.2°C at the lowest part of my property and -3°C closer to the house. This time my Parajubaeas didn´t suffer so much .....

Thanks Alberto! Butia witeckii growing at +-390m altitude. I believe this place the minimum temperature can reach -6°C.

I'm still dreaming with Parajubaea!!! This year I bought some seeds of RPS, I still didn't plant. I have some Jubaea germinating here, very healthy, also planted some ceroxylon seeds.

[MAUSER]

Hello.  I present to you my butia witecki.

[MAUSER]

Butia witecki X butia eriospatha. I've got four.