[2] It is a solitary trunked palm tree which is endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago in the southeast Pacific Ocean west of Chile.

It is assessed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Seeds from the Chonta palm are banned from being exported from the Juan Fernández Islands by the Chilean government, and so are virtually impossible to get hold of.

They have been grown successfully in San Francisco, but two specimens were lost during an unusually hot summer.

There is a large 7 m (23 ft) specimen at Earlscliffe in Dublin, Ireland, growing well where the climate seems to suit this rare palm tree.