Jubaea


Jubaea is a genus of palms with one species, Jubaea chilensis or Jubaea spectabilis, commonly known as the "Chilean wine palm" or "Chile cocopalm". It is native to southwestern South America and is endemic to a small area of central Chile between 32°S and 35°S in southern Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Santiago, O'Higgins, and northern Maule regions.
It has long been assumed that the extinct palm tree of Easter Island belonged to this genus as well; however, in 2008, John Dransfield controversially placed it in its own genus, Paschalococos.

Growth

The thickest well-documented Jubaea was on the estate of J. Harrison Wright in Riverside, California. Its diameter "at shoulder height" was. The largest of several specimens at the Adelaide Botanic Garden in 1889 was stated to be thick at the base. A hollow 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, 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.

Conservation

The species is partially protected within Chile, although pressures of human overpopulation and expansion of grazing areas have reduced the population of the Chilean Wine Palm in recent centuries.

Gallery


File:Jubaea chilensis nuytsia pix.jpg|Fruits and nuts
File:Kew.gardens.chilean.wine.palm.london.arp.jpg|World-record Jubaea at Kew Gardens
File:Jubaea chilensis - Leverkusen, Germany.jpg|Jubaea chilensis in Leverkusen, 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