Originating from hot zones of the globe, palm trees bring a touch of exoticism to your decor. Common to the Mediterranean coastline, their elegant bearing and original foliage never cease to seduce plant lovers who dream of acclimatizing them in their gardens.
From the Palmaceae or Areacaceae family, palms group together 2700 species of monocotyledonous arborescent plants bearing large pinnate leaves, palmate or arranged in a fan at the top of a stipe. The stipe is the name given to the robust stem of palms, it is an interlocking of old leaf sheaths nested in each other and resulting from the fall of leaves induced by the growth of the plant. For palms, we will never speak of a trunk. The stipe is recognizable by its constant diameter which does not vary from the foot to the bunch of leaves. This stipe is in fact a stem filled with pith or fibers.
The stipe does not branch except in rare cases, we will then speak of cepae when multiple stems are born at ground level, as in the case of Chamaedorea seifrizii for example.
The leaves of palms are often large and very cut. They can be pinnate, that is to say that the leaflets are distributed on both sides of the veins as in Cocos nucifera (coconut palms), Phoenix canariensis, or palmate or flabelliform (fan-shaped) in Chamaerops.
The inflorescence (spadix) of palms is formed by a spike surrounded by a large bract called "spathe". In some genera of Araceae, the spike can bear more than 2,000 flowers. The fruits have a soft edible flesh in the date palm (Phoenix dactylifer) or hard in the coconut palm.
Due to their botanical specificity, palms are similar to grasses; it is impossible to cut or graft them. The only method of multiplication remains the sowing of seeds, preferably on a hot bed. Germination is very slow (2 to 3 months). The small seeds will be planted in a mixture with sandy dominance and covered with a thickness of substrate equal to their size. The very big seeds as those of the coconut trees will be half buried. Certain species produce rejections with their feet, it is then possible to separate them delicately in order to replant them separately by taking care well to take a stem already well rooted. However, the success of this technique remains uncertain and sowing is without doubt the only sure way to multiply palms.
You can grow some species of palm trees in your gardens even if only two species grow naturally in Europe, the Chamaerops humilis and the Phoenix theophrastii.
The very famous Trachycarpus fortunei, very present on the French Riviera, is without doubt the most cultivated of the so-called hardy species. Once well installed, it can survive temperatures of -15°C. Be careful because this palm can grow very fast and take unexpected proportions.
The Rhapidophyllum hystrix, although quite rare, remains one of the most resistant species to cold (-20°C). Northern countries have adopted it. Brahea armata, otherwise known as the "Mexican blue palm" is recommended for small gardens because its growth is very slow, as well as Chamaerops humilis, which has a great capacity to adapt and will do well in dry ground as well as in areas exposed to sea spray. Very present in garden centers, it is the ideal palm tree even in a pot on a terrace, to give a note of exoticism to your decor.
