Chamaerops humilis seed

LATIN NAME: Chamaerops humilis

COMMON NAME: European Fan Palm

The European fan palm sets its fan-shaped, palmate leaves on the short, clustered trunks, and the whole palm carries the fine, bold, low look of the warm garden. The low, clump-forming, evergreen palm carries the short, often clustering trunks covered with the coarse, fibrous leaf bases and the many fan-shaped, palmate leaves with the stiff, grey-green, deeply divided segments and the fine, prickly leaf stalks, the short, dense clusters of the small, yellow flowers between the leaves, one of the fine, bold sights of the warm garden, drawing the bees, to be followed by the small, round, yellow-brown fruits. The palm is a fine, historic presence of the warm garden, and it is a palm of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The European fan palm is a historic subject of the plant science, and the palmate leaves keep showing up in the work on the hardy palms. The way the fan-shaped, palmate leaves with the stiff, grey-green, deeply divided segments form on the short, clustered trunks has been studied at length, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the hardy palms, the fibrous leaf bases and the members of the palm family. The prickly leaf stalks and the low habit have also made it a fine study palm, and the European fan palm is a regular subject of the work on the palmate leaves of the cool world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The European fan palm is a fine, bold palm of the warm garden and the study collection. The many fan-shaped, palmate leaves with the stiff, grey-green, deeply divided segments rise from the short, often clustering trunks covered with the coarse, fibrous leaf bases, one of the fine, bold sights of the warm garden, drawing the bees, and the short, dense clusters of the small, yellow flowers open between the leaves, to be followed by the small, round, yellow-brown fruits. It is one of the fine choices for the warm garden, the pot and the study collection, and it has been written up in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the palmate leaves and the hardy ways. It is a fine, bold palm of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden.

Give the young palms the warmth and the deep, well-drained bed, and the fan-shaped leaves will form over the years.

To grow the European fan palm from seed, sow the small, brown seeds a little under the surface of the deep pot of rich, sandy soil, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently, then pot the young palms on as they fill the pot. The seedlings come through within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun, the warmth and the deep, well-drained ground, the fan-shaped leaves will form over the years.

‘Vulcano’ is a compact, bushy, suckering palm up to 2m high with one or more stems covered in leaf bases, spiny leafy stalks, stiff broad leaves divided into leaflets, bluish or greyish green above and silvery beneath, and flowers from spring to summer, the male flowers bright yellow and the female flowers yellow-green, followed by yellow to orange-brown fruit