Chilean wine palm Jubaea chilensis
The giant palm native of Chile.
The two Chilean wine palms in ARTIS Zoo were planted in 2022 and were 120 years old at the time. They could be more than 1,000 years old!
The Chilean wine palm in a nutshell
- comes from
- valleys of the Cocalan and the Ocoa in Chile
- blooms with
- large, dense inflorescences
- excels in
- longevity
The Chilean wine palm bears small, edible, orange-yellow fruits resembling mini coconuts.
Coconut palm of Chile
The Chilean wine palm, also known as the Chile cocopalm, is a slow-growing palm. In the wild, it grows only in a small area in central Chile, where it can grow to a height of 30 metres. The trunk is thick and sturdy, with a circumference of up to 5 metres. The grey-green leaves form graceful, feathery fans and fall off naturally after four to five years.
Palm wine
In the past, sap was extracted from the trunk to make palm wine. For this process, the entire tree had to be felled. Due to excessive felling for sap extraction, the Chilean wine palm was threatened with extinction. Today, felling is banned, and the palms are protected.
