Trachycarpus fortunei
Trachycarpus (trahk-ee-KAHR-puhs) fortunei (fohr-TOON-ee) | ||||||||
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Scientific Classification | ||||||||
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Trachycarpus wagnerianus Trachycarpus excelsus | ||||||||
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Habitat and Distribution
Trachycarpus fortunei is Native to southern and central China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang), often in mountainous regions growing at altitudes of 100–2,400 m (328–7,874 ft), where the climate is cool and wet in summer, cold and often snowy in winter. The exact natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation for fibre products; some sources suggest it may also be native in southern Japan but it is more likely introduced and naturalised there. Chinese fan palm is native to temperate and subtropical mountainous areas of Asia including southeastern China, Taiwan and the Chusan Islands. It is commonly grown as a landscape specimen in central and northern Florida, the southeastern U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and in mild areas along the west coast. It has been sighted in northerly latitudes from Charlotte, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia to Vancouver, British Columbia. This picture perfect hardy palm is an internationalist who decorates postcards from Lake Como in Italy, the southern coasts of the British Isles and the Crimean Peninsula. (floridata.com)Description
Single-trunked, palmate palm to 10 m (rarely 13 m) tall. The trunk is 15 - 30 cm diameter, often with a slightly wider base, and usually remains covered in dense fibre from the leaf bases; rarely this is shed on very old specimens leaving the trunks smooth. Rounded crown of dark green leaves 1-2 m long, with 30-50 leaflets, these 60-80 cm long and 2.5-4 cm wide, arranged in a tight fan at the end of a 60-100 cm petiole. Unlike the closely related genus Chamaerops, the leaf petioles are not spiny. The species is dioecious, with separate male and female trees. The fruit is dark purple-blue when ripe, round, about 1 cm diameter, with a single seed. They are produced on densely branched panicles. Editing by edric.
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Grows to heights of 20-40 ft (6.1-12.2 m). Windmill palm has a rather slender single stem that is 8-10 in (20-25 cm) in diameter and is typically a bit narrower at the base than at the top. Trunks are usually covered with a loose mat of coarse gray or brown fiber. In older individuals the fiber sloughs away to reveal a smooth ringed surface. Chusan palm, as it is also commonly called, has light to dark green palmate leaves that are lighter, almost silvery (glaucous), on the underside. They are held on thin 3 ft (0.9 m) flattened stems that are finely toothed along both edges. Leaves are circular, about 3 ft (0.9 m) in diameter and segmented about halfway. They are flat with leaf segment tips held stiffly, but occasionally you will see individuals with droopy tips. Leaves are arranged into a symmetrical crown that is about 8-10 ft (2.5-3 m) wide. Specimens grown in full sun and/or under poor conditions may have much smaller, more compact crowns. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants; this palm is dioecious. They are densely arranged on 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) long branched stalks called an inflorescence. The windmill palm's bright yellow inflorescence erupts from a packetlike bud in late winter and early spring and is held within the crown. On female plants the flowers are followed in late summer by round or oblong blue fruits that are about 1/2 in (1.3 cm) in diameter. (floridata.com) Stems; Solitary, erect gray to brown stems, to 12 m tall, slender, to 30 cm in diameter, with matted brown fibers and remnant leaf bases. Leaves: Palmate, induplicate, with a nearly circular blade to 1 m across, divided almost to the base by lanceolate segments with sometimes stiff, sometimes drooping tips, bifid to 1 cm; with a petiole longer than the blade and its margin toothed, with obscure bumps or unarmed; the adaxial hastula is raised and triangular to circular. The upper leaf surface is dark green; the undersurface, silvery green. Flowers and fruits: Inflorescence to 50 cm, congested and densely branched to four orders. The yellow or whitish male and female flowers grow on separate plants. The fruits are 1-1.5 cm, kidney-shaped and purplish-black covered with a waxy blue bloom when ripe. (idtools.org) |
Culture
Trachycarpus fortunei is notable as the hardiest large trunk-forming palm known, with established specimens tolerating winter temperatures below -20°C, and also tolerant of cool summer temperatures in oceanic climates such as Scotland and even the Faroe Islands at 62°N latitude, making it the northernmost palm outdoors anywhere in the world. Some planted in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) are known to have survived a temperature of -27.5°C, the coldest temperature reported to have been survived by any palm. It is tolerant of heavy snow cover. A semi-dwarf cultivar group Wagnerianus has been selected in Japan; it differs in slower growth, with smaller leaves with stiffer leaflets 20-30 cm long, and a trunk just 15 cm diameter. Because of its small size, it is more tolerant of windy sites than normal plants. It has often been treated in popular literature as a separate species - Trachycarpus wagnerianus - but is botanically identical.
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External Links
- Glossary of Palm Terms
- MODERN BOTANICAL LATIN
- "Just To Be Clear"
- http://idtools.org/id/palms/palmid/factsheet.php?name=Trachycarpus+fortunei
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.