Attalea crassispatha

Attalea crassispatha

The little coconut also known as carossier, carroussier, côrossié, petit coco, kawosie, ti koko, kowos, kokowos, kolowosh, kowos etranjè (Attalea crassispatha (Mart.) Burret) is an arboreal species belonging to the Arecaceae family.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Magnoliophyta division,
Class Liliopsida,
Subclass Arecidae,
Arecales Order,
Arecaceae family,
Subfamily Arecoideae,
Tribe Cocoseae,
Subtribe Attaleinae,
Genus Attalea,
Species A. crassipatha.
The term is basionym:
– Maximiliana crassispatha Mart..
The terms are synonyms:
– Bornoa crassispatha (Mart.) O.F.Cook;
– Cocos crassispatha Mart.;
– Orbignya crassispatha (Mart.) Glassman.

Etymology –
The term Attalea derives from the name of Attalo Filometore Evergete (170 BC – Pergamum, 133 BC), called in modern historiography Attalus III, king of Pergamum from 138 BC. until his death and scholar of medicine and botany.
The specific epithet crassispatha is the combination of the Latin terms crassus, a, um “, i.e. big, thick, and spatha, ae, i.e. sword, in reference to the bract which encloses the inflorescence.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
The Attalea crassispatha is a rare and endemic palm of south-western Haiti, where, due to the scarcity of the populations, it is considered at risk of extinction. The estimated population was 25 plants in 1991 and lives in a small area in southwestern Haiti. It is the only species of the genus present in the Caribbean.
Conservation efforts are underway for the species, both through planting in Haiti and elsewhere; in 1991 the seeds were distributed to botanical gardens in 12 countries.
Its natural habitat is that of calcareous soils, in degraded areas and low altitudes, with sparse and scattered populations in rocky areas, from sea level up to about 450 m of altitude.

Description –
Attalea crassipatha is a monoecious evergreen palm with a single stem that grows up to 20 meters in height.
The stem is gray, up to 35 centimeters in diameter, and may be columnar or slightly swollen at the base of the middle of the stem.
Each plant bears 15 to 19 pinnately compound leaves; the leaves are composed of rows of leaflets on both sides of the leaf axis, similar to a feather with 127 – 165 pairs of leaflets. The leaves consist of a leaf sheath that surrounds the trunk, a rachis, from which the leaflets emerge, and a petiole, which connects the leaf sheath with the rachis. The leaf sheath is open (does not completely envelop the stem); when the leaf has fallen, the leaf sheath detaches sharply from the stem. The sheath and petiole together are 1.3 to 1.35 m long while the rachis is 3.2 to 4 m long.
The inflorescences form between the leaves; they are predominantly male or have a mixture of male and female flowers. The inflorescence consists of a main axis, the peduncle and the rachis, and a series of smaller branches, the rachillae. The rachillae, which bear the flowers, emerge from the rachis. The peduncle is the main stem, which connects the rachis with the stem. The peduncle, the main stem of the inflorescence, is no longer than 20 cm and up to 6 cm in diameter. The rachis is up to 40 cm long while the rachillae, which can be hundreds, reach a length of about 15 cm. The male flowers have three free lanceolate petals, 8-9 stamens and twisted anthers.
The fruits are ovoid drupes, 3-4 cm long, of orange red color when ripe, containing only one globose seed of about 2 cm of diameter. The fruit is reddish when ripe.

Cultivation –
Attalea crassipatha is a palm that is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of food and wood.
This palm grows best in a sunny position where it requires well-drained soil.
However, on the basis of the climatic conditions of the area of origin and of those in which it was introduced, in small numbers, starting from the 90s of the twentieth century, its cultivation seems to be limited exclusively to the milder tropical and subtropical areas, with a preferably seasonal, in full sun and on well drained soils, as it does not bear water stagnations.
The plant reproduces by seed, previously cleaned from the pulp and immersed in water for two days, in a draining substratum which is to be kept humid at a temperature of 24-28 °C.

Customs and Traditions –
Attalea crassispatha is a palm whose common names are: carossier, carroussier, côrossié, petit coco, kawosie, ti koko, kowos, kokowos, kolowosh and kowos etranjè.
This species survives in Haiti in areas with very little natural vegetation. In its range of origin, it is found in three anthropogenic habitats: natural gardens, private gardens and shrub forests. According to research by Joel Timyan and Samuel Reep, private gardens were thought to have the highest potential for survival and regeneration. At the other extreme, they found only one case of natural regeneration in an open field garden.
Furthermore, this species is the most isolated palm of the genus Attalea. All the other species of the genus are Central or South American species; the only other species found in the insular Caribbean, A. maripa and A. osmantha, are found in Trinidad and Tobago at the southern end of the Caribbean. The small population size and extreme isolation from other members of the genus make A. scientifically interesting crassipatha. This isolation was supported by a molecular phylogeny of the group published in 2009. Alan Meerow and colleagues found that A. crassispatha belonged to a clade that included the “Scheelea clade” and the two “Orbignya clades”, but that it was a sister of both the groups.
It was Charles Plumier, who visited the island of Hispaniola in 1689, who published a description of the species in 1703. Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius used Plumier’s notes and drawings to give the species a formal description by Linnaeus in 1884 placing it in the genus Maximiliana . In 1929 Max Burret transferred the species to Attalea. In 1939 O. F. Cook inserted the species into a new genus, Bornoa, named after Louis Borno, former president of Haiti. However, Cook did not publish it, rendering the name invalid. Liberty Hyde Bailey kept the species in the genus Attalea. S. F. Glassman considered it close to the genus Orbignya, but suggested that it might represent a new genus. Recent work has favored the retention of these taxa in a single genus, Attalea.
Among its uses, it should be remembered that the seeds of Attalea crassispatha are edible; the flavor is said to be similar to that of coconut, but higher in fat and thicker. Nuts are also a good source of cooking oil. The bract is used as a bowl for feeding pigs. The leaves are used for thatching and weaving, but only when the more common Sabal causiarum and Coccothrinax argentea palms are unavailable. It is also used as a source of timber and as a boundary marker between farmers’ fields due to its longevity and ability to survive hurricanes. Also the stem, which is strong, is sometimes used in the construction of traditional buildings.
As regards its state of conservation, starting from 2018, the A. crassipatha has been considered a critically endangered species with an estimated population of fewer than 50 mature individuals.
Due to its small population, A. crassispatha has been described as one of the rarest palms in the Americas. Efforts are underway to conserve the species by planting seedlings both in Haiti and elsewhere.
For this reason, due both to the small number of individuals present and to the growing anthropization and intensive grazing, which prevents its natural reproduction, the species has been included in the red list of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) as “Critically Endangered” (at very high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future).

Method of Preparation –
Attalea crassispatha is a palm whose seeds are edible, with a flavor similar to coconut, but richer in fat and denser. Nuts are also a good source of cooking oil. The bract is used as a bowl for feeding pigs. The leaves are used for straw and weaving, but only when the more common Sabal causiarum and Coccothrinax argentea are not available. It is also used as a source of wood and as a boundary marker between farmers’ fields due to its longevity and ability to survive hurricanes
In Haiti the immature endosperm, soft and with a pleasant taste, which recalls that of the coconut, is consumed in particular by children, the seed is furthermore rich in good quality oil which could be utilized also for culinary uses. Finally, the species has ornamental and landscape characteristics of great interest, one more reason to try to save and spread what is currently one of the rarest palms ever.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora of Italy, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Photo source:
– https://cdn.plantatlas.org/img/specimens/FTG/66321.jpg

Attention: The pharmaceutical applications and alimurgical uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not in any way represent a medical prescription; we therefore decline all responsibility for their use for curative, aesthetic or food purposes.