Nannorrhops
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| Nannorrhops ritchiana (Griff.) Aitch. |
Nannorrhops ritchiana (Mazari Palm) is the sole species in the genus Nannorrhops in the palm family Arecaceae. It is native to southwestern Asia, from the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula east through Iran and Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwestern India, growing at altitudes of up to 1600 m.
It is a shrublike clumping palm, with several stems growing from a single base. The stems grow slowly and often tightly together, reaching 1-2 m or more tall. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a long, smooth (unspined) petiole terminating in a rounded fan of 20-30 leaflets, 30-120 cm long, with a distinct glaucous blue-green to grey-green colour.
The flowers are borne in tall, open clusters up to 3 m long at the top of the stems; it is usually dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The fruit is a brown drupe. The individual stems are monocarpic, dying back to the ground after flowering, with the plant continuing growth from basal sprouts.
It is one of the hardier palms, tolerating winter frosts down to about −12 °C (possibly even −20 °C), though it requires very hot summers for good growth. It is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant in southern Europe and southern North America, but is not widely cultivated.
