Popenoe and Jiminez: The Pejibave 



165 



CULTURE AND VARIETIES 



When grown from seed, the pejibaye 

 comes into bearhig at an age of six to 

 eight years, and its life is considered 

 to be 50 to 75 years, or perhaps more. 

 These figures are for the tropical low- 

 lands, i.e., regions below 3,000 feet in 

 elevation. At higher altitudes the 

 coolness of the climate retards the 

 development of the palm, and it may 

 not come into bearing until it is ten or 

 twelve years old. 



In commercial plantings, pejibayes 

 should be spaced 20 feet apart. Carlos 

 Werckle considers that the best system 

 is to allow two to four suckers to 

 develop around the base of each palm, 

 thus forming a clump of three to five 

 stems. Suckers invariably develop 

 after the palm has attained a few years' 

 growth. Some of them may be removed 

 to extend the plantation. It is, in fact, 

 solely by this means of propagation 

 that pejibaye culture may be placed 

 upon the best basis, and for the follow- 

 ing reason: the finest varieties are 

 seedless, and must therefore be propa- 

 gated by vegetative means. 



Werckle states that the best time to 

 remove suckers is when they have 

 attained a thickness of about three 

 inches at the base, and are four to six 

 feet high. At this time they have 

 formed roots, and are easily cut from 

 the parent and established indepen- 

 dently. The leaves should be cut back 

 heavily and the plant shaded until 

 it has had time to form new roots; and 

 it must also be supplied abundantly 

 with water during this period. 



Regarding the quantity of suckers or 

 offshoots which can be obtained from 

 one palm, it seems probable that the 

 number will not be less than eight or 

 ten. In the few instances where 

 pejibayes have been propagated by 

 this means in Costa Rica, no records 

 have been kept. It is possible that 

 more than ten may be obtained, since 

 the removal of the first ofifshoots pro- 

 duced may encourage the palm to 

 develop others. 



Seed-propagation is the method 

 commonly employed at the present 



time. The seeds, like those of numerous 

 other palms, are killed if left to dry 

 for a long time in the sunlight. If 

 removed from the fruit, dried in the 

 shade for a few hours, and packed in 

 slightly moistened powdered charcoal, 

 pulverized coconut fiber, or a mixture 

 of charcoal and coconut fiber or char- 

 coal and chopped sphagnum moss, they 

 may be shipped around the world 

 without difficulty. They may be 

 germinated in a mixture of coconut 

 fiber and sand; or in light soil contain- 

 ing an abundance of humus; or they 

 may be stratified in sphagnum moss 

 and potted-off after they have germin- 

 ated. Werckle recommends the last- 

 named method, and states that germi- 

 nation takes place in about two months. 

 He notes that care must be taken to 

 keep ants away from the young plants : 

 he has at times lost many through the 

 attacks of these insects, which destroy 

 the first shoots as they emerge from the 

 seed. 



The varieties of the pejibaye gener- 

 ally recognized in Costa Rica are few 

 and ill-defined. In other countries 

 where the plant is grown, practically 

 no attention is given to this subject. 

 Costa Ricans speak of the pejibaye 

 rayado as the best. This is simply a 

 form in which the fruits are marked 

 by longitudinal scars, and is not a well- 

 defined race or strain. There are 

 pejibayes of varying color and varying 

 foriu and size; and most important of 

 all, there is the pejibaye macho or "male 

 pejibaye," a seedless form. This is a 

 fine large fruit entirely devoid of seed 

 (though Don Jose Zeledon states that 

 it is common to find on each raceme 

 five or six fruits with seeds in thein). 

 Numerous palms which produce these 

 seedless fruits are known in Costa Rica, 

 and some are said to have been propa- 

 gated by ofTshoots; but the cause 

 of seedlessness in this species has not 

 yet been determined, and it does not 

 seem altogether certain that the char- 

 acteristic is one which will, in every 

 case, be inherited. It may be con- 

 nected with the pollination of the 

 flowers, and some of the palms which 



