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The Carnauba Wax Palm

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The Carnauba Wax Palm PRINCIPES tVol. 16 The CarnaubaWax Palm (Copernicia prunifera). I. Botanv DrnNIs JosNsoN ' Departmentot' Geography,Uniaersity ol California,Los Angeles94024 This paper is the first of a series in- carnauba,but this was revisedIo Coper' tended to present much of the in{orma- nicia cerilero by Martius in 1838. An tion contained in the author's unpub' attempt to honor Arruda da C6mara as lished thesis entitled The Carnauba Wax the discoverer of carnauba wax was PaIm (Copernicia prunifera) anrl lts made by Macedo (1867) when he Pro- RoIe as on Economic Plant (L970) . oosed that it be renamed Arrudaria Lerilera. This change,however, was not Noming of rhe Species adopted,and carnaubacarried the scien- "carnauba" tific name Copernicia cerit'era until The common name is de- Moore corrected the speci{ic epithet to rived from a Tupi Indian word meaning o'tree orunilera, literally that scratches." This des- ignation was no doubt used by the Bra- zilian Indian group becauseof the spiny petioles and residual leaf bases which cover the lower portion of the trunk. Generalagreement exists that the ear- liest published referenceto carnauba is found in the 1648 work by Marcgravius and Piso entitled Historia naturalis Brasiliae. In a later work published in 1658,Piso provided the first illustrations of this plant, one of which is reproduced in Fie. I Thi descriptionsand illustrations pro- vided by Marcgravius and Piso led to the inclusion of an account of carnauba in Ray's Historia Plantarum (1688). This in turn was picked up by Miller in the eighth edition oI The Gard'enersDic- tionary (1768) and given the designa- tion Palrna prunifera. This naming of the specieswas overlooked for nearly two hundred years until Moore (1963) reinstatedthe speciesname prunilera. In Brazil, Arruda da Cdmara in 1810 1, One of the earliest known illustrations o{ gave the binomial Corypha cerilera to carnauba. From Piso (1658). r9721 JOHNSON:CARNAUBA. I. I7 Growth-rate. Under normal conditions, where leaves are not harvested, the carnauba grows at a rate o{ about one foot per year (Kitzke, 1954a). The ef- fects of harvesting leavesare significant as shown by Kitzke's researchin Brazil. Trees planted side by side were grown under conditions o{ completeprotection, and of regular harvesting of leaves. After 21 years the protected trees mea- sured about 7.5 metersto the top of the crown while the treessubject to leaf cut- ting measuredsome three meters to the sarne point. In caseswhere harvesting of leaveshas been initiated at too early an age, and where such practices have 2. Nine-year-old carnauba palms which have been continued, it is possible to have yet produced trunks due to premature leaf not trees of nine years of age which still harvesting. Photo courtesy S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. have not produced a trunk. The number of leavesproduced by a Botqnicql Des*iption mature tree each year is on the order of 46 to 60. Indications are that leaf fall The recent revision ol Copernicia by occurs about one year after leaf emer- Dahlgren and Glassrnan(1961) provides gence takes place; therefore, the crown a comprehensivedescription of C. pruni- o{ a mature tree is made up of leaves lera. Since this paper is focused on one year of age and younger. It has man's use of the carnauba,only the parts also been found that petiole lengths in- of the plant which are relevant will be crease as the tree becomestaller and considered,such as the stem, root, fruit, older (Kitzke, I954a) . and leaf. The subject of growth-rate naturally Trunk. In Brazil two common t€rms are leads to speculationconcerning the life- usedto refer to the trunk. When the tree span of the carnauba. While early esti- is young and has yet to put forth a stem matesput the life-spanat up to 200 years, free of leaf bases it is referred to as Kitzke estimatesthat 75 years would be cuandu, a word which also refers to a a reasonablefigure. The questionof the Brazilian type of porcupine. When the effect of constantly harvesting leavesis tree reachesmaturity the upper portion an interesting one. No quantitative data of the stem is smooth and free of leaf are available,but continuedharvest may basesthrough natural leaf fall. It is then arrest senescenceand prolong the life- referred to as lauada which translatesas span. "cleaned." Root. The root system of the carnauba Normally the carnauba has a single is typical of palms in general. The ma- trunk. However instancesof damageto ture tre€ has a large clump of innumer- the terminal shootthrough insectactivity result in branching. There are photo- able branching roots, some of which graphic records of trees exhibiting four extend laterally a distance of several and five such branches (Andrade and meters. Salgado, 1945, and Min. Agr., 1929). The carnauba seedling initially pro- PRINCIPES [Vol. 16 I I 3. The whitecarnauba, a form of C. prunit'era.Photo courtesy of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. duces a long juvenile'otap" root which and 15 years. The small ovoid fruits are servesas a t€mporary organ of anchor- Iight to medium green initially, ripening age and water absorption. It is this long to a dark purple to black color. They root which has probably led to the mis- have a whitish pulp which, when ripe, taken belief that the carnauba cannot has a sweetalthough somewhatastringent successfullybe transplanted. taste, and contains a single large seed. The underground stem of the seedling Leal. The fan-shaped leaf of the car- immediatelybegins to form adventitious nauba has in mature trees about 60 roots, usually three or four within the leaf divisions. The central division is first year. As the diameter of the stem about 90 cm. long. Both surfacesof the below ground increases, so does the leaf have a coat of wax, which can be number of adventitious roots. In this processedto become the carnauba wax way the {ibrous root system typical of of commerce. palms is formed (Kitzke, 195f ). Fruit. Flowering of the carnaubaoccurs Vqrielies randomly throughout the year. This is Taxonomic studies of varieties of C. not common in the gents Copernicia prunilera have not been completed al- which is normally synchronousand may though there is some preliminary infor- be the disruptive effect of leaf harvesting mation. The commoncarnauba described injury. Botanical maturity or first- aboveis representativeof the total popu- flowering occurs betweenthe agesof 12 lation. r9721 JOHNSON: CARNAUBA.I. 19 Three other types of carnauba are re- several studies subsequentto that date ported. The white carnauba (Fig. 3) is and this has caused considerable con- distinguishedby the distinctive shapeof fusion in the literature. the crown. The name is derived from the roots which are said to be lighter in Ltrnnetunr Crrro color than those of the common form. ANrneon, H. R. nr & Ser-c.too, A. 1945. Despite being valued for its medicinal C6ra de carnariba. 2nd ed. Companhia Fortaleza, Brazil. use, it is said to be rare and the exist- Johnson, Annun.t l.L CAuene, M. nn. 1810. Discurso , ence of a single specimen in a large s6bre a utilidade da instituigio de jardins carnaubalis consideredfortunate. It has nas principaes provincias do Brasil. Rio de been stated that another distinguishing Janeiro. Quoted in translation in Koster, characteristic of the white carnauba is H. 1816. Travels in Brazil. L907. Le palme americane della that the petiolesmake a pattern around Bncc.tnr, O. tribir delle CoryPheae. Florence. left, rather the trunk spiralling to the D.lnr-cnnN, B. E. & Gr-.tssu-LN,S. F. 1961. A than to the right. This is not valid how- revision oI the genus Copernicia. I. South ever becausethe common carnauba oc- American species. Gentes Herbarum 9(1) : casionally exhibits the same pattern. I-40. carnauba wax palm Another reported type is the giant Jor'rNsolr, D. 1970' The (Copernicia prunifera) and its role as an carnauba,which is designatedbecause of economic plant. University of California, its height of up to 15 meters. Whether Los Angeles, M'A. thesis. this is in {act a true variety has not been KIrzrn, E. D. 195I. The planting of Cuban determined. It may merely representthe copernicias and study ol Copernicia ceri- Brazil,1951. Unpublished report of potential height to which any carnauba t'era in S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Racine, Wis' would erow if the leaves were not har- consin. vested. 1954. Florida-Cuba {ield trip report Based upon research carried on by March-April, 1954. Unpublished report of & Son, Inc., Racine, Wis- S. C. Johnson& Son,Inc. at Raposanear S. C. Johnson consin. is evidence of Fortaleza, Brazil, there 1955. Report on field trip to Brazil one additional type. It is basedon a sig- November-December, 1955. Unpublished nificantly smaller leaf size and has been report of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Racine, "small-lea{" designated (Kitzke, f955b). Wisconsin. Mlcnro, M. A. rn. 1867. Notice sur le palmier carnauba.' Paris. Relqted Species Manccnevrus, G. & Prso, G. 1648. Historia In addition to C. prunifera, two other naturalis Brasiliae. Pt. 2. Amsterdam. speciesoccur naturally in South Amer- M,lnrrus, C. F. P. voN. 1838. Historia natu- ralis palmarum. Vol. 3' LeiPzig. ica: C. tectorurn)which is found chiefly MInrn, P. 1768. The gardeners dictionary. in the savannasof Venezuela;and C. Bth ed. London. alba, which has a distribution centered MrNrsrfnro u.L Acnrcur-tune, h'ufsrnu E on Paraguay. Cou*rnncro. 1.929. A exploragSo da car- Prior to Beccari'sstudy of New World naiba. Rio de Janeiro. palms in 1907, it was generally believed Moonn, H. E., JR. 1963. The typification and of Palma MifIet (1754). Gentes that C. alba and C.
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