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42. Pejibaye 



Guiliema Gasipaes 



When boiled the thick mealy flesh of the pejibaye palm is 

 sweet and resembles chestnuts or boiled potatoes. Of all Cen- 

 tral American palms the fruit of the pejibaye is by far the best 

 for eating. The tall palm which often attains 26 feet in height, 

 is widely planted in Costa Rica and Panama, while southward 

 it is sometimes found wild. The ripe fruits are yellow or red 

 and have a good deal of flesh about the single large seed. The 

 leaves are dark green on top and light green on the underside. 

 In Panama the pejibaye is called piva palm. 



