Arecaceae FAMILY

Oenocarpus bacaba

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree

GrowthSlow

A plant of the moist tropics. Requires a sunny, moist, but well drained position^[1]. Grows in shady positions in the rainforest within its native range, though it can also grow well in full sun if the forest is cleared^[2]. Trees are fairly slow growing^[2].

Propagation

Seed - There is no need to separate the seeds from the flesh of the fruit, it can all be sown together^[2]. The seed is best sown as soon as it is harvested in a lightly shaded position, either in a nursery seedbed or in individual containers^[2]. Pot up seedlings from the seedbed into individual containers when they are 4 - 6cm tall^[2]. Seedlings grow away quite slowly, but should be ready to plant out 7 - 9 months later^[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Oenocarpus+bacaba>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia. — http://www.pacsoa.org.au/ ↩︎Contains at least a little information on the majority of palm and cycad species, plus a wealth of photographs. A first class website.
[2]Brazilian Trees. Volume 1. 4th Edition. — Lorenzi. H. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil. · 2002 · ISBN 85-86714-17-8 ↩︎Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
[3]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.
[4]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
[5]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.
[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.
[7]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.
[8]Heart of Palm Use: A Family Survey — Scott Zona, Ph.D. · Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Virtual Herbarium. · http://www.virtualherbarium.org/palmresearch/Hearts_of_Palm_table.html ↩︎An on-line article listing the botanical names and range of palm trees that have an edible apical bud.
[9]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
[10]Timbers of British Guiana — Stone H.: Freeman W.G. · The Crown Agents for the Colonies: London. · 1914 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A guide to the woods of Guiana, though there is no description of the plants. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎