Mauritia flexuosa

{{Short description|Species of palm tree}} {{Speciesbox |image = Mauritia flexuosa (19861732855).jpg |image_caption = |genus = Mauritia |species = flexuosa |authority = L.f. |synonyms = *''Mauritia flexuosa'' var. ''venezuelana'' Steyerm. *''Mauritia minor'' Burret *''Mauritia sagus'' Schult. & Schult.f. *''Mauritia setigera'' Griseb. & H.Wendl. *''Mauritia sphaerocarpa'' Burret *''Mauritia vinifera'' Mart. *''Saguerus americanus'' H.Wendl. | range_map = Distribution of Mauritia flexuosa.png | range_map_caption = Distribution of Mauritia flexuosa |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-122230 |title=Mauritia flexuosa L.f. — the Plant List |access-date=2014-04-20 |archive-date=2019-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125080344/http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-122230 |url-status=dead }}</ref> }}

'''''Mauritia flexuosa''''', known as the '''moriche palm''', ''ité'' palm, ''ita'', ''buriti'', ''muriti'', ''miriti'' (Brazil), ''canangucho'' (Colombia), ''morete or acho'' (Ecuador), ''palma real'' (Bolivia), or ''aguaje'' (Peru), is a palm tree. It grows in and near swamps and other wet areas in tropical South America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=122230|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=Wcsp.science.kew.org|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref>

''Mauritia flexuosa'' can reach up to {{convert|35|m|abbr=on}} in height. Henderson<ref>{{cite book | last= Henderson |first= Andrew | date= 1995 | title= Palms of the Amazon | location= New York | publisher= Oxford Univ. Press | page= 72}}</ref> and McBride<ref> J. Francis McBride, Palmae, FLORA OF PERU volume 13 part 1 issue 2 page 327</ref> both give a height of {{cvt|50|m}}. The trunk can be up to {{cvt|70|cm}} diameter at breast height<ref>J. Francis McBride, "Palmae", FLORA OF PERU, loc.cit.</ref> The large leaves form a rounded crown. The tree produces Pneumatophores which can develop as much as {{convert|30|m}} from the trunk.<ref> David L. Jones, PALMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, Smithsonian Institution Press, (1995) page 72.</ref> suggesting a very extensive root system. The flowers are yellowish and appear from December to April. The fruit, which grows from December to June, is a chestnut color and is covered with shiny scales. The yellow flesh covers a hard, oval nut. The seeds float, and this is the means by which the palm tree propagates. In natural populations, the tree reaches very high densities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_6/b_fdi_43-44/010005452.pdf|title=Ecology of Economically Important Palms in Peruvian Amazonia|author=Francis Kahn|website=Horizon.documentation.ird.fr|access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref>

==Distribution== ''Mauritia flexuosa'' is found in the wild in South America in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, and Venezuela.

==Fruit== The fruit, which is an orange-brown and covered with neat rows of scales, are consumed by catfish during the annual floods and then deposited sometimes at a considerable distance from the mother plant. When the waters recede, the seeds germinate.<ref>{{cite book | last= Bright | first= Michael | date= 2001 | title= 1000 Wonders of Nature | location= London | publisher= Reader's Digest Association Ltd | pages= 278-279 | ISBN= 0-276-42614-2 }}</ref>

left|thumb|144x144px|Fruits

Moriche palm fruit ("morete" in the Oriente of Ecuador) is edible and used to make juice, jam, ice cream, a fermented "wine", desserts and snacks, requiring harvesting of more than 50 tonnes per day in Peru.<ref name=peru/>

The inflorescence buds are eaten as a vegetable and the sap can be drunk fresh or fermented (see palm wine). Threads and cords are locally produced from the tree's fibers.

Humans consume palm weevil larvae (''Rhynchophorus palmarum'') which burrow in the tree trunk.<ref name=peru/>

==Oil== Buriti oil is an orange-reddish oil extracted from the fruit of the moriche palm. The oil contains high concentrations of oleic acid, tocopherols, and carotenoids, especially beta-carotene.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=European Polymer Journal|year=2006|volume=42|issue=12|pages=3324–32|url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=18336612|title=Absorption and photoluminescence of Buriti oil/polystyrene and Buriti oil/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends|vauthors=Duraes JA|doi=10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2006.09.012|display-authors=etal|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The oil has a reddish color used as ink on hides and skins.<ref>PESCE, Celestino. Oleaginosas da Amazonia.-Belém: Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, 2009. 334 p.: il. {{ISBN|978-85-61377-06-9}} (MPEG) e 978-85-60548-39-2 (MDA)</ref> Batana oil, a similar oil extract, has seen hair and skin care use since Pre-Columbian times.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-06 |title=How Is Batana Oil Made? |url=https://batanababe.com/blogs/guide/how-is-batana-oil-made |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Batana Babe ™ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Label: DRUGGIST BATANA OIL- oil ointment |url=https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=252fec30-7583-ab0d-e063-6294a90a0ee9 |website=DailyMed.nlm.nih.gov |publisher=National Library of Medicine |access-date=30 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Batana Oil: Benefits, Side Effects, Skin Care, and More |url=https://www.instyle.com/batana-oil-benefits-7197573 |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=InStyle |language=en}}</ref>

==Ecology== This tree is important to many animal species; several bird species, such as the red-bellied macaw, sulphury flycatcher, and moriche oriole, use it for nesting and food. Tapirs, peccaries, fish and monkeys depend on the fruit.<ref name="peru">{{cite web|url=http://assets.wwf.ch/downloads/aguaje_wwf_peru.pdf|title=The amazing palm tree of the Amazon|publisher=Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana|year=2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227084343/http://assets.wwf.ch/downloads/aguaje_wwf_peru.pdf|archive-date=2012-02-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[File:Flores fechadas Buriti 02.JPG|left|thumb|Male inflorescences.]] Alexander von Humboldt documented the tree and the ecosystem it supports in 1800 when traveling through the Llanos region of Venezuela. He "observed with astonishment how many things are connected with the existence of a single plant." He called it the "tree of life" and essentially described it as a keystone species although the concept would not be explicitly defined until 1969 by Robert T. Paine.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World: Andrea Wulf: 9780385350662: Amazon.com: Books|isbn=978-0385350662|last1=Wulf|first1=Andrea|year=2015}}</ref>

==Miscellaneous== The government of the Federal District – the Brazilian state where the country's capital, Brasília, is located – is called ''Palácio do Buriti'' ("Buriti Palace"). Across the street from the building is a square with fountains and a single moriche palm tree, which was taken from the outskirts of the city and replanted there. The species is a common feature of the cerrado vegetation that predominates in central Brazil.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

== See also ==

* Doce de buriti

==References == [[File:Moriche Palms (Mauritia flexuosa) on Comté River ... (25055479137).jpg|thumb|A ''Mauritia flexuosa'' stand in French Guiana.|249x249px]] {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Mauritia flexuosa}}

flexuosa Category:Flora of Southern America Category:Trees of Brazil Category:Trees of Trinidad and Tobago Category:Flora of the Amazon Category:Flora of the Cerrado Category:Flora of Venezuela Category:Edible plants Category:Plants described in 1782 Category:Crops originating from South America Category:Trees of Bolivia Category:Trees of Peru Category:Trees of Ecuador Category:Trees of Colombia Category:Trees of Suriname Category:Palms of French Guiana Category:Trees of Guyana Category:Trees of Venezuela