Butia capitata

Butia capitata, the Pindo Palm, is the hardiest of the feather-leaf palms and the one most often seen along the Southeastern coast, planted northward as far as Virginia Beach. Long, curving, blue-green pinnate fronds arch from a trunk that thickens to about a foot and a half across, and in summer the palm hangs heavy clusters of orange, plum-flavored fruit, edible and sweet, each holding a seed like a miniature coconut. The old trade name Cocos australis still turns up in nursery lists. Native to southern Brazil and Uruguay. Woodlanders grew the Pindo Palm for many years as one of the sure things in the palm house, a tree that takes a Zone 8 winter without fuss and asks only an open site and soil that drains. This is a reference listing for a plant we have offered and may again; let us know if you would like to see the Pindo return.