Arecaceae FAMILY

Butia yatay

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree

Growth—

Yatay palm grows naturally in climates with a pronounced dry season, but can succeed in a range of conditions from the dry subtropics to moderate rainfall warm temperate zones^[1]. Plants can tolerate short-lived, light frosts with temperatures down to -2c^[1]. Succeeds in a well-drained soil and a position in full sun^[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in containers. Stored seed is very slow to germinate. Pre-soaking the seed for 24 hours in warm water prior to sowing may shorten the germination time. Plants form a long tap-root some time before forming a shoot. Germination of fresh seed usually takes place in 3 - 4 months at 25°c^[2]. Plant out into deep pots or the open ground either as soon as root growth is noticed or as soon as top growth appears. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Butia+yatay>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]Growing from Seed. Volume 3. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1989 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
[3]Brazilian Fruits and Cultivated Exotics — Lorenzi. H.; Bacher. L.; Lacerda. M.; Sartori. S. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora LTDA; Brazil. · 2000 · ISBN 85-867174-24-0 ↩︎A superb book, giving information on several hundred fruit species. Each entry has a brief description of the plant and its uses, accompanied by one to many excellent quality photographs of the fruits.
[4]Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas — Henderson A.; Galeano G.; Bernal R. · Princeton University Press; Princeton, New Jersey. · 1995 · ISBN 0-691-08537-4 ↩︎An excellent book, giving basic information on all the 550 species of palms native to the Americas that were known in 1995. Comprehensive information on the plants range and habitat, brief description, some uses and almost 250 photos.
[5]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[6]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎