Phoenix roebelenii
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Phoenix roebelenii | ||||||||||||||
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Phoenix roebelenii O'Brien |
Phoenix roebelenii (Pygmy Date Palm or Miniature Date Palm) is a species of date palm native to southeastern Asia from southwestern China (Yunnan) to northern Laos and northern Vietnam.[1][2] The name is sometimes mistakenly cited as roebelinii.
It is a small, slow-growing slender tree growing to 2 m tall. The leaves are 60-120 cm long, pinnate with around 100 leaflets arranged in a single plane (unlike the related P. loureiroi where the leaflets are in two planes). Each leaflet is 15-25 cm long and 1 cm broad, slightly drooping, and grey-green in colour with scurfy pubescence below. The flowers are small, yellowish, produced on a 45 cm inflorescence. The fruit is a 1 cm drupe resembling a small, thin-fleshed date.[3]
[edit] Cultivation and uses
The Pygmy Date Palm is a popular ornamental plant in tropical to warm temperate areas, including Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, southern California, coastal Texas, and Florida.
[edit] References
- ^ Kew Checklist of Arecaceae: Phoenix roebelenii
- ^ Germplasm Resources Information Network: Phoenix roebelenii
- ^ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.