Copernicia prunifera

Carnauba palm ( Copernicia prunifera )

The carnauba palm ( Copernicia prunifera ) is a South American species of palm. Carnauba wax is obtained from the wax of their leaves.

Features

The trunk of adult palms rarely reach 15 m in height, 10 m in culture. The diameter is 25 cm. The spirally arranged, button-like leaf base residues remain often get the lower part of the trunk. The crown sheet is full and round. She is 5 feet high and wide. The fan-shaped leaves are 1.5 m wide and circular. The nearly 1 m long petiole is armed with strong teeth. The leaf blade is divided halfway into many linealische, stiff segments. The leaves are deep green to blue-green; both sides are coated with wax, the lower stronger.

The inflorescence is an approximately 2 m long, narrow panicle, which extends well above the leaf crown. The flowers are yellowish brown and hermaphrodite. The fruits are round, 2.5 cm thick and brown to black.

Dissemination

The carnauba palm is endemic in northeastern Brazil. It grows in low, influenced by the monsoon areas, especially along rivers and lakes.

Use

→ Main article carnauba

The wax of the leaves are harvested. The palm is little cultivated. In the dry season of six to eight leaves are cut off. This can be performed at intervals of two months, three times per year. The leaves are dried on mats, causing the wax scales loosen. By knocking and scraping the wax is separated from the leaves. About 5 to 8 g of wax are obtained per sheet, the resulting tree per year and 120 to 160 g

Documents

• Robert Lee Riffle, Paul Craft: An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms, 4th edition, Timber Press, Portland, 2007, ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6, p 314