During my visit to Chile, I learned about a native Chilean palm tree, Jubaea chilensis (Chilean Wine Palm) in La Campana National Park. La Campana National Park, along with Lago Peรฑuelas National Reserve, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
La Campana National Park is northwest of Santiago, in the Valparaiso Region of Chile. It is about an hour and half away from Santiago on Route 5.
La Campana National Park was originally a farm. The farm owner realized the value of the land as the last resort for the native Chilean palm tree, Jubaea chilensis, and donated the land for conservation.
The Chilean palm trees have very dense, solid, big, and fat trunks with smooth bark. Their growth is slow. It takes more than 50 years to grow into a small sized tree.
These palm trees produce sap when under stress. Historically, people have set a fire to the trees in order to harvest the sap. However, this practice killed many Chilean palm trees and has been banned.
The trees produce coconuts that are the size of a walnut. During the fruiting season, the palm trees will drop their coconuts with a big stem on the ground.
The roots look like regular palm tree roots. They grow out and down looking like sticks. It is hard to tell how far the root system goes.
In the park, none of the plant parts are allowed to be removed from the plant (but it is OK to pick up what has dropped on the ground) and none of the plants should be disturbed from their natural growing, even when they are growing in a bad spot. I saw many intriguing looking โtwinโ palm trees.
Along with the Chilean palm trees, La Campana National Park is also home for many other native Chilean plants. There are giant cacti everywhere. Some of them have red fluffy looking things on them. Apparently, these cacti are infected by disease.
La Campana National Park is a great place for bird watching. During our visit, I spotted many birds in the trees.
The park is not only open for people, but also neighboring farm animals. We saw cows, horses, and donkeys having their daily walk in the park.
If you are a nature lover, La Campana National Park is a great place to visit. In La Campana National Park, you will learn about the native Chilean palm trees and other native plants. It also takes you away from the urban hustle of Santiago or Valparaiso and emerges you in a deep calm peace.
La Campana National Park
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