Phoenix Roebelenii

🌿Plant Care Guide

📝 Description

The pygmy date palm, native to southeast asia, is one of the most commonly used kinds of dwarf palms. A very long-lived, slow-growing slender tree up to 3 metres tall, this palm likes partial shade to full sun; morning sun is recommended. It has a dense crown of leaves that are 60–120 cm long, and pinnate with some 100 leaflets. Each leaflet is 15–25 cm long and 1 cm across, slightly drooping, and bright green in colour with scurfy pubescence below; the thorns at the base of the frond are very sharp. The flowers are small and yellowish: the fruit is a 1-cm drupe, resembling a small, thin fleshed date. In nature, the trees are usually single trunked, in cultivation multiple trunks are often produced. Very frost-tolerant for short periods of time, they are also drought and saltwater tolerant. They like a fertile, well-drained soil with moderate moisture levels and respond well to regular applications of fertiliser. The trees adapt to most soils and tolerate water logging, clay, loam or sandy soils, low in nutrients. Regular irrigation is required. Propagation is by seed or division. The pygmy date palm is generally pest and disease free. It requires little pruning to develop a strong structure; old and dead fronds should be trimmed below the spines. Graceful in appearance, p. Roebelenii is a popular ornamental plant which looks well by poolsides, on patios, in shopping malls and office entrances, and is a perfect container plant.