The Pindo, also called Jelly or Wine palm, is a hardy tree resistant to cold and drought. An uncommon sight outside of botanical gardens or parks, it boasts feathery, graceful silver-blue-green pinnate leaves and a thick, short trunk with persistent decorative leaf bases. The exceptionally long pinnate leaves of the Butias in our collection arch dramatically, their tips curving downward, dangling just above the ground on younger specimens.
The Jelly Palm commands a large footprint, and is ideally planted as a solitary feature in any yard or poolside. This palm deserves recognition not only for its hardiness, but also for its production of yellow and orange flowers, which mature into bountiful hanging clusters of orange fruit during the summer. The fruit of the B. capitata is most delightful – a tart guava-banana-pineapple-nutty taste – that cannot be adequately described or compared. Commercially the fruit is used in jellies, jams, and for making wine. For this reason, the Pindo Palm is also known as the Jelly Palm or Wine Palm.
Native in Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the name derives from an aboriginal term meaning spiny and the latin capitata, meaning “with a dense head.”
