Butia lallemantii

This palm is groing in 2 small areas of Rio Grande do Sul. Officially they were documented as Butia paraguayensis until recently, when a field study revealed them to be caespitous in nature, ie clumping.

The flower is reminiscent of Butia paraguayensis in that it had the same enlarged female flower ,yet we were quite confused to find a huge variation in flower colour and size within a very small community, that does not exist in the other populations.

We found 2 populations ,one growing in campos, the other amongst scrubby trees.

A most fascinating palm, unlikely ever to reach cultivation in numbers due to the lack of seed. Cows and horses had a particular liking for the spathes which were mostly eaten.

Fruits and seeds MOSTLY very similar to Butia paraguayensis, although amongst the population existed some very unusual inflorescences.

More info and interesting pictures : Webshots album of Alberto.