Oenocarpus bataua, the patawa, sehe, hungurahua (Ecuador) or mingucha, is a palm tree native to the Amazon rainforest.

[3] It is native to the tropical rainforests of South America and is abundant in the wet zones at elevations less than 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

Its distribution stretches from Panama and Trinidad to the Amazon basin (Colombia, Venezuela, Guianas, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru).

[4] In Colombia, it is usually found in sandy soils with a high organic matter content that are subject to flooding, possibly because there are few other species which compete with it.

[6] Traditionally indigenous peoples have collected the fruit and matured it in tepid water in order to prepare drinks and also to extract its oil.