Chamaerops humilis

Botanical Name: Chamaerops humilis

Common Name: Mediterranean Fan Palm European fan palm, Mediterranean dwarf palm or dwarf fan palm

Family: Arecaceace ( Palmae)

Type: Broad leaved evergreen shrub/Palm tree It is the northernmost naturally world

Origin/Habitat: Western Mediterranean: mainly found in southwestern Europe (Malta, coastal Spain and Portugal, central and southern Italy, some parts of the southern Mediterranean coast of France, as well as northwest Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia.

Leaf Character: Green to bluish green leaves on spiny leaf-stalks with the leaves with a long petiole terminating in a rounded fan of 10 to 20 leaflets; each leaf is up to  11.5 m long, with the leaflets 50–80 cm long It also has numerous sharp needlelike spines produced on the leaf stems

Flower Type: Yellow flowers are borne in dense, short inflorescences at the top of the stems; it is usually (but not invariably) dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The prophyll covers the flowers until the sexual phase (anthesis) and then splits open apically into two triangular lobes. Flowers during Springtime 

Fruit: Unripe fruits are bright green, turning to dull yellow to brown when ripe during the fall (September– November) 0.5 inches dry/hard cover

Bark: showy; typically multi-trunked or clumping stems; can be trained to grow with a short, single trunk

Exposure: Full to partial Sun to partial Shade

Water: Moderate to regular water

Remarks: Tolerates temperatures 0 oF Can reach 20 ft hight for 20 ft wide. Growth is very slow in northern areas. Use in containers, mass under trees, grow as impenetrable hedge. Tolerates poor soil. strong winds. It has an underground rhizome which produces shoots with palmate, sclerophyllous leaves. Makes a sculptural element in a garden or patio containers. 

Propagation: By seed or division 

Management: By removing suckers from the base of the main trunk, may also be trained as a single trunked palm. May also be used as a barrier, planted three to five feet apart. 

Propagation: is by seed or division.

Pest: Scale may be a problem.

Cultivars: Chamaerops humilis var. argentea André (syn. var. cerifera). Northwest Africa. Leaves glaucous. Chamaerops humilis var. humilis. Southwest Europe. Leaves green. Chamaerops humilis 'Vulcano'. Compact, thornless cultivar may be silvery, but less so than argentea. The leaves tend to be thicker, and the appearance of the plant is bushier than var. humilis or var. argentea.