Chamaerops humilis

Chamaerops humilis subsp. var.	European fan Palm, Mediterranean dwarf Palm
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Chamaerops is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae (palm family), comprising a single species Chamaerops humilis (European fan Palm or Mediterranean dwarf Palm), representative of the Pre-Pliocene paleo-tropical ancestral lineages in the area.

It is a shrub-like clumping palm, with several stems growing from a single base. The stems grow slowly and often tightly together, eventually reaching 2–5 m tall with a trunk diameter of 20–25 cm. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a long petiole terminating in a rounded fan of 10-20 leaflets; each leaf is up to 1-1.5 m long, with the leaflets 50–80 cm long. It also has numerous sharp needle-like spines produced on the leaf stems; these protect the stem growing point from browsing animals. The flowers are borne in dense, short inflorescences at the top of the stems; it is usually (but not invariably) dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The prophyll covers the flowers until the sexual phase (anthesis) and then splits open apically into two triangular lobes. The number of flowers per inflorescence is highly variable for both male and female plants, depending on the size of the inflorescence. Female flowers are tri-ovulate.[5] Unripe fruits are bright green, turning to dull yellow to brown when ripe during the fall (September–November). The seed (usually 0.6–0.8 g) comprises a small cylindrical embryo, which is surrounded by several layers, from inner to outer: (1) a nutritious endosperm, (2) a wide woody layer or endocarp, (3) a fleshy and fibrous mesocarp (the pulp), and (4) the thin outer layer or exocarp.[6] It has an underground rhizome which produces shoots with palmate, sclerophyllous leaves.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Chamaerops humilis, Linn. This is the only palm native to Eu. St. 1-1½ ft- high: lvs. ragged, fibrous; margins of the petioles armed with stout, straight or hooked spines; blade suborbicular, truncate or cuneate at the base, rigid, palmately multifid; segms. acuminate, bifid. Medit. .—Reaches 20 ft. in a rather arborescent variety. Var. dactylocarpa, Becc., is interesting for its elongated frs. shaped like a date.CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Varieties

There is one species with two accepted varieties and two cultivars

• Chamaerops humilis var. argentea André (syn. var. cerifera). Northwest Africa. Leaves glaucous.
• Chamaerops humilis var. humilis. Southwest Europe. Leaves green.
• Chamaerops humilis 'Vulcano'. Compact, thornless cultivar - may be silvery, but less so than argentea. The leaves tend to be thicker, and the appearance of the plant is bushier than var. humilis or var. argentea.
• Chamaerops humilis var. humilis

It is closely related to the genus Trachycarpus from Asia, differing in clumping habit (Trachycarpus only forms single stems without basal suckers), the spiny leaf stems (spineless in Trachycarpus), and in small details of the flower anatomy.

Purchase a Chamaerops humilis plant

You can order this plant online at Forestfarm nursery. They ship across the United States and Canada, and have been providing excellent plants for decades.

Order Chamaerops humilis plant here.

Gallery

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  Flowers

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  Mature fruit

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  Mature fruit, close-up

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  Chamaerops humilis var. argentea, south slopes of the High Atlas, Morocco

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  Chamaerops humilis leaf.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Chamaerops humilis. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Chamaerops humilis QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)