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Phoenix roebelenii
'Pygmy Date Palm' Common Names: Feather Palm |
| Description: | |
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Small to medium sized palm to about 3m, altho older plants can be quite tall. Has very attractive dark green feather leaves, and spined petioles. Not self cleaning, so old fronds need to be manually removed. Houseplant in bright light, container plant, or a palm for shady outdoor areas. Moderate growth rate, single trunk. The stem is covered with old leaf bases and is topped with a dense head of rich green pinnate leaves that grow to about 4' long. Delicate leaflets, arranged neatly along the upper length of the leaf lend the plant a very graceful aspect. Lower leaflets are modified into pointed 2-3" spines that are very sharp. Cream-colored flowers are held on short, 1' infloresences (photo at right) and are followed by small black dates on the female plants (male flowers are borne on a separate plant). Although this palm is single-trunked it is most commonly container raised by nurseries in group of from 3 to 5 specimens. When grown like this the pygmy date palm makes an especially attractive specimen with the trunks tending to curve gacefully away from the center of the clump. Pygmy date palm excels in containers of all kinds. Also looks great by patios and entry ways. Use clumps of these palms as specimens and to serve as focal point in a mass planting of annuals. Also nice combined with evergreen shrubs in a mixed hedge. |
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| Recommendations: | |
| Needs adequate moisture for best look. Has some drought tolerance when mature. | |
| Problems: | |
| This palm has sharp needle-like spines arranged near the base of the leaf stem. These can easily penetrate skin, tissue - sometimes even protective clothing. This often results in painful infections. |
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