About the plant
One of the world’s most magnificent palms, Jubaea chilensis is native to Chile in South America. A victim of its own success, this tree has been felled at great rates because of its many uses.
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Vulnerable
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
Banked in the MSBSeeds from this plant have been banked in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst in Sussex
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Cultural usePlant has cultural uses, these might be every day or ceremonial
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Human foodPlant supplies food for humans
Facts
- Found in a small area of central Chile
- Can grow to 8–15m tall
- Sap is used for palm wine and palm syrup
- Edible seeds
- Leaves are used to make baskets
- One of the most southerly occurring palms

Andrew McRobb © RBG Kew

© John Dransfield, RBG Kew

© John Dransfield, RBG Kew

By Nutsia via flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0

© William Baker, RBG Kew

Oil painting by Marianne North, no 603
Palm wine
Palm wine is an alcoholic drink, using the sap from palm trees, including coconut and date palms.
For most palms the sap can be extracted by tapping, but for the Chilean wine palm the sap can only be extracted by felling the tree. This is now limited under Chilean law, and it is hoped that non-destructive harvesting methods will eventually be implemented.
-
Vulnerable
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
Banked in the MSBSeeds from this plant have been banked in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst in Sussex
-
Cultural usePlant has cultural uses, these might be every day or ceremonial
-
Human foodPlant supplies food for humans