SHAPAJA

EDIBLE PARTS: "The immature endosperm, young leaves, and fruits are edible (the fibrous seed coating is chewed and sucked when ripe), The oily seeds (kernels) are a popular treat." [1] "It is a source of vegetable oil." [2] "The tree is often utilized from the wild for its edible seeds, which are a popular local treat, and its edible fruit." [3]
EDIBLE HEART OF PALM: The heart of palm from this species "is a regional delicacy in the Llanos de Moxos in the Bolivian Amazon. In the small town of San Ignacio, the site of an ancient Jesuit Mission, locals cook heart of palm off Motacu as a vegetable. Residents of San Ignacio also dice  cooked Motacu palmito and mix it with cooked tomatoes and the green tops of spring onions, every bit as tasty as gourmet potato salad." [9]
MEDICINAL USES: "The fruit, and oil from the seeds are used for  medicinal purposes: adventitious roots as vermifuge, the oil for muscular sickness, roots are used for the reproductive system and sexual health, seeds for infections and infestations, metabolic system and nutrition, and the respiratory system, and the root and seed is used to treat the digestive system." [1]
USEFUL LEAVES: "The leaves are used to thatch rooftops." [2]  palmpedia.net states: "Uses: It's leaves are used for roofing," [1] " It is also one of the most important sources of thatch in its native range." [3] The leaves are said to last for three years in the Bolivian Amazon. [9]
USEFUL TRUNKS: palmpedia.net states: "Uses: It's "trunks for poles, to build rustic houses in the country. [1] "The wood is moderately heavy, hard, compact, of low durability when exposed to the elements. It is only used locally in rural constructions." [6]
AS CHARCOAL: "A charcoal is made from the endocarps. It is the preferred source of charcoal for the smoking of latex when forming rubber." [7]
FRUIT AND OIL FOR LIGHTING: "The fruit, and oil from the seeds are used in lamps for lighting." [1] The seeds are rich in oil. [8]
OTHER USES: The oils are also used in the manufacture of cosmetics, and to fry food. Lye. The fruits are often scattered on the ground or buried in order to breed larvae (“suri”) in them for eating or use as fish bait. " 
LIVESTOCK: "The fruits are fed to pigs and other livestock." [2]
IN BOLIVIA: This is "economically the most important palm species in Bolivia." [2] 

NATIVE TO: "Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia." [3]
HABITAT: "Rainforest and savannah." [4] "Dry land forest and open areas." [5]
DESCRIPTION: A "stout, single-stemmed, evergreen palm whose unbranched stem rarely gets taller than 4 metres, though occasional specimens up to 7 metres are found. The stem can be 30 - 40 cm. in diameter, carrying a plumose head of up to 30 large leaves that are 2 - 3 metres long and are held erect in a shuttlecock-like crown. The stem is often covered with old leaf bases. [3] Plants begin to fruit at a young age, often before the trunk develops.
- RATE OF GROWTH: "Young plants are slow-growing." [6] Medium. [1]
- HARDINESS: "Tolerates an occasional short cold snap to very high 20s." [1]