Coccothrinax crinita Seeds | Old Man Palm
LATIN NAME: Coccothrinax crinita
COMMON NAME: Old Man Palm
Plant Profile
Coccothrinax crinita is a small palm with a trunk covered in a thick coat of pale, hair-like fibre, and the coat is the whole point. The trunk is slender, no more than twenty centimetres across and three to four metres tall, and the fibre hangs from the crown down to the base in a shaggy sheath that gives the plant its name. The crown is a fan of stiff, silvery-green segments.
The species is endemic to western Cuba, where it grows on serpentine soil and on limestone with very little soil at all. It is slow, and a trunk of three metres may be fifty years old. The fruit is a small black drupe, and the seed is round and hard, with a small pore at one end. The palm is listed as endangered, and wild collection is not a legal source of seed.
Science & Biotechnology
The fibre is a sheath of dead leaf bases that splits into fine threads, and it is not unique to this species: several Coccothrinax and Copernicia palms hold a similar coat, which is thought to protect the bud from sun and from salt wind. The fibre is tough and has been used for cordage and for stuffing, though the palm is too rare now for that to be a trade.
The genus is part of a group of Caribbean fan palms that are notoriously hard to identify, and the species are separated by the shape of the leaf segments, by the colour of the fruit and by the arrangement of the fibre. Coccothrinax crinita is the only one with a full coat of long hair, which makes it the easiest in the genus to name and the most sought after by collectors.
Uses & Benefits
The palm is grown as a specimen in tropical and subtropical gardens, in a pot or in a well-drained bed, and it is one of the most expensive small palms in the trade because it is so slow. It is also used in bonsai and in conservatory collections in temperate countries.
In Cuba the fibre was used for cordage and for rough brushes, and the trunks were cut for posts, which is part of why the species declined. The fruit is not eaten. There is no medicinal use and no food use, and the palm is now protected, so the only legitimate trade is in nursery-propagated plants.
Growing from Seed
Seed is slow and erratic. Soak it for two days, then sow in a deep, free-draining mix at 28 to 30 degrees, and expect germination in two to six months, with stragglers for a year. The seedling sends down a long radicle first, so use a pot that is deeper than it is wide.
The palm needs full sun, sharp drainage and warmth, and it tolerates poor, rocky soil and salt wind. It is not hardy below about minus two, and it resents being waterlogged. Do not remove the fibre from the trunk, since it is the reason for growing the plant and the trunk is easily damaged. Feed lightly and repot only when the roots fill the pot.
Our Take
A slow, expensive, beautiful small palm for a frost-free garden, and one that should be bought as nursery stock rather than seed from the wild.
Related Reading
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