What are the difference between Butia capitata vs. Butia yatay?

[Tommy83]

What are the visual differences between Butia capitata and Butia yatay?

I'm having trouble finding the identification keys that characterize the 2 species.

Thank you very much for your help!

[sonoranfans]

As I recall capitatas are rare. not many palms called capitata are actually capitata.  Many of them are actually butia odorata.  Used to be board members who investigated this including traveling to their origins have posted. perhjaps do a search  on this site.  Yatay is reported to be a bigger palm with longer less recurved  petioles than odorata.  -If you have the right climate -they want a nice cool season- odoratas look great to my eye, here in my short cool season they dont look as robust as they do in northern florida.  I think the color of inflorescences and fruits are the best way to differentiate.  DO a few googles searches for these aspects.  As a small palm I am not sure you can differentiate them.

[edbrown_III]

I have a key to Butia ---B. yatay has  much bigger seeds and flowers than B. capitata or B. odorata 

[Tommy83]

 

@sonoranfans

@edbrown_III   

Thank you very much for your help. 

Here are a few photos I took last week. So that would be butia odorata... (unfortunately no inflorescence or seeds that would allow me to identify them with certainty).

 

 

 

 

 

[sonoranfans]

Tommy, I defer to Ed on these matters of butia.  I probably learned what I do know from Ed, go direct to the source for the best information.