Butia capitata fruit edibility

Cherry-sized fruit of Butia capitata are moreish, tasting quite a bit like the drink Tang, perhaps because of fairly high vitamin C content. Fruit often fall to the ground once ripe and sometimes before they are ripe. I tried ripening a few off the tree inside, it appeared to work, at least to an extent.  Different bunches of fruit ripen at different times, so are available fresh, over quite a long period. The fruit does have fibers which can stay stuck in the teeth for several hours but which do not pose an obstacle to eating. These fibers probably explain why it is often made into a drink, with the fibers sifted out presumably. A reasonably good food plant but takes up a lot of room.

This tree started producing fruit about 14 years after planting in Wellington, New Zealand (hardiness zone 9.)

The frond stumps on the trunk of palms like Butia capitata are a handy place to insert (in this case edible) epiphytes. 

Mitsuba self-sows in Wellington

The excellent Japanese perennial vegetable Mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica) self-sows in my Wellington, NZ, garden. It self-sows in full sun or full shade, much larger leaves in the shade. Self-sowing in moist soil or even on relatively dry slopes.

 Another Asian vegetable that self-sows here is the annual or biennial Water Pepper (Persicaria hydropiper) which has an interesting hot after-taste. So far only self-sowing in shallow water or moist sunny spots. Less productive and tasty than Mitsuba in my experience.