Butia purpurascens is a smallish, relatively slender, endangered species of Butia palm, up to 3-7m tall. It is locally known as palmeira-jataí, coqueiro-de-vassoura, butiá or coquinho-azedo in Portuguese. The Kalunga people call this palm cabeçudo. Etymology The species epithet is derived from Latin , meaning 'purple', with the suffix - meaning 'becoming', which refers to the purple colour of the fruit, flowers and spathe. The Portuguese vernacular name coqueiro-de-vassoura translates as 'broom-coconut' and refers to the main use of this species. The name palmeira-jataí refers to a Brazilian town around which this palm is prominent. Taxonomy It was described by Sidney Fredrick Glassman in 1979, using a holotype he had collected 3 km northeast of the city of Jataí in 1976 (S.F.Glassman13076). Description Morphology Habit This is a solitary-trunked, monoecious palm. Although Glassman described it as 1.2-4m tall in his original description, by 2012 it was known to usually grow to 3-4m, with some individuals reaching 7m in height. Kelen Pureza Soares in his 2015 monograph on the genus Butia gives a height of 1-4m and a trunk diameter of 15–18 cm. This trunk is columnar, growing straight up (never at an angle such as many other caulescent Butia). The trunk is quite slender compared to other caulescent Butia. Leaves The 10-26 leaves are highly arched back towards the trunk, with the total blade length being 77–86 cm. A mature plant with an exposed trunk bears an average of 14 leaves a year. The 83–115 cm petiole of the leaf is unarmed, lacking teeth along its margins. These margins are instead densely fibrous along the lower half of the rachis, becoming less fibrous toward base. The rachis of the leaf is 84–150 cm in length, and has 38-61 pinnae (leaflets) at each side arranged in pairs, more or less evenly spaced, and inserted at an angle on the rachis so that each pair forms a neat 'V'-shape. The pinnae in the middle of the rachis are 45–65 cm long and 1.1–2 cm wide. The apex (tips) of the pinnae are long-acuminate and asymmetrical. The colour of the leaves has been described as bright green, bluish-green or bluish-grey. The leaves are pinnate. The leaf development is constant throughout the year, but leaf emission peaks during periods with higher temperature and rainfall (usually December, January and February) and are lowest in colder, drier months (June and July). Inflorescence The branched, monoecious inflorescence