Attalea butyracea (mutis ex L.f.) Wess.boer

A large palm. The trunk is solitary and grey. It is smooth but with rings. It is 10-30 m tall and 40 cm across. The crown is dense with large erect leaves. The leaves are 5 m long. There are no leaf stalks. The leaf bases are broad and erect. The leaves have many broad leaflets. These are crowded along the midrib. Both ranks of leaflets are directed inwards. The flowering stalks are among the leaf bases. Each flowering stalk has a large fluted bract. The fruit are egg shaped. They are 4-5 cm long and 2-5 cm wide.

An understorey tree of woodlands and forests, most commonly on edges and in areas of disturbance; also in grassland, sometimes in large stands; frequently in flat areas alongside streams; from the coastal plains to elevations of 1,000 metres.

The terminal bud or cabbage is cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The sap collected after the removal of the apex is fermented and drunk. The seed of the fruit is eaten. It also yields an edible oil. They are mashed and mixed with roasted cooking bananas. The fruit can also be eaten.

Plants are grown from seed. The seed germinate in 2-3 months.