Chuniophoenix nana

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Chuniophoenix
(choo-nee-oh-FEH-niks)
nana (NAH-nah)
Chunnan0003z.jpg
Scientific Classification
Genus: Chuniophoenix
(choo-nee-oh-FEH-niks)
Species:
nana (NAH-nah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Asia.gif
Morphology
Habit: Clustering
Leaf type: Costapalmate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Chuniophoenix nana is found in open forest, in Southern China and Vietnam.

Roma Street Parklands, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Photo by Daryl O'Connor.

Description

Tightly suckering palmate palm, up to 5' tall, (though usually shorter). Leaflets end in points, and minimal fiber on stems. stems/canes of about 2cm diameter, and costapalmate leaves of around 35 cm diameter. It has hermaphroditic or bi-sexual flowers borne on intra-foliar inflorescences, monocious, (i.e. both male and female parts are present in the same flower and only one plant is needed for reproduction), and hence self-fertilisation can take place. It has clusters of orange-red fruits. Somewhat resembles a Rhapis species. Stems about 1/4" inch in diameter and no spines. Very 'user-friendly' palm. (Geoff Stein September 2007)

Culture

Southern California experience: This is a very underused palm in southern California and remarkably cold tolerant and easy to grow. It is a pretty slow grower, and much faster in a tropical climate... but it is not an expensive palm and larger plants can be purchased from Hawaiian sources and shipped over. It is at least cold hardy to the mid 20s, and though it may nor rival Rhapis excelsa in cold hardiness, it is indeed close. This is a good palm for smaller areas- it will never outgrow an area, and it does prefer mostly filtered light... though along the coast or milder climates, it does seem to tolerate full sun for at least part of the day. Reportedly it performs tolerably as an indoor palm, but I have no experience with that. (Geoff Stein September 2007)

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Comments and Curiosities

This is a tillering palm, it exhibits saxophone style root growth (it has a heel), keep top third of heel above soil elevation!

Small 4 ft palm has slender 1 inch diameter canes with deeply divided fan leaves. It spreads by suckering. Flowers are hermaphrodite and are followed by clusters of small orange fruits.

A diminutive palm to only about 1.5m (5ft) tall with dainty, narrow, fan-shaped leaves, reminiscent of a Rhapis. This palm should make a perfect pot plant as it is quite tolerant of low light. (RPS.com)



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by, edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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