Peach palm (pupunha)
Bactris gasipaes
Spiny clumping palm; boil the starchy fruit with salt, and harvest palm heart from extra stems.
Hardiness: zones 11 to 12
Light: full sun
Size: about 60 ft tall, 15 ft wide
Harvest: January to April
From: Amazon and Central America
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.
Good for: food.
Native to: Tropical South America. Hardy in zones 11 to 12.
The story
Peach palm was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the western Amazon thousands of years ago, who bred spineless, large-fruited forms and planted it in every village; the starchy orange fruit is boiled and eaten for breakfast across Costa Rica and Brazil, and the heart of palm is cut from the suckers.
Planting
Full sun, rich moist soil, heat, and humidity; a clustering palm to 60 feet. Plant a spineless variety in the wet tropics.
Growing
Water steadily and feed; it fruits in four years. Harvest suckers for heart of palm to keep the clump small.
Harvest and use
Fruit bunches ripen orange through the year; boil 30 minutes in salted water and eat with salt or mayonnaise. Never eat raw.
What to watch for
Spines on wild types, and cold.
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More tropical and subtropical food plants
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home