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Butia paraguayensis
Dwarf yatay palm is a short, mostly solitary-trunked palm from the cerrado of southern South America, usually with a trunk that grows underground. It is grown mainly for its sweet-sour fruit and as a hardy ornamental in full sun.
Butia paraguayensis is a species of Butia palm tree found in the cerrado region of South America. Its natural range runs from Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo in southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina and Uruguay. It was given the name dwarf yatay palm in English by 2000, and it is locally known as yata'i in Guaraní in Paraguay, or butiá-do-cerrado in Portuguese in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
In Paraguay this species is very common; it occurs in the departments of Amambay, Caaguazú, Caazapá, Canindeyú, Concepción, Cordillera, Guairá, Misiones, Ñeembucú, and San Pedro. In Brazil it occurs in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and São Paulo. Lorenzi et al. also reported a population in southeast Minas Gerais in 2004, as did Noblick in 2010. In Argentina it occurs in the provinces of Corrientes and Misiones (in San Ignacio). In Uruguay it has historically been recorded as being native to the departments of Artigas and Rivera, but the distribution has been severely reduced due to agricultural development and presently the species is restricted to a single population of 175 individuals located on private property on the Cerro del Miriñaque, a hill in the Rivera department (see pictures).
In Paraguay the fruit and palm hearts are eaten by local tribal communities (Ava Chiripá, Aché, others). The leaves are also used to make hats and other handicrafts. The unripe, green fruit are believed to be useful for combating intestinal worms. In Paraguay the nuts are reputed to be of good use as fish bait.
Butia archeri · Butia arenicola · Butia campicola · South American jelly palm · Butia catarinensis · Woolly butia palm · Butia lallemantii · Butia matogrossensis · Butia microspadix · South American Jelly Palm · Butia pubispatha · Butia purpurascens
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Butia paraguayensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
