Trachycarpus fortunei (Hook.) H. Wendl.

Family: PALMAE

Genus: Trachycarpus

Catalan common name: Palmera excelsa.

Spanish common name: Palmera china de abanico. Palmera de molino de viento. Palmito elevado.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Chinese-Japanese

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Garden plants. Gardens.

Description: This palm tree has short, palmate leaves and a trunk that ranges from 10 to 12 cm in height, and very fine and either partially or completely covered by the sheaves of the leaves long fallen. Leaves are palmate with a rounded lamina of some 60-90 cm wide and 40-60 cm in length, and the petioles can reach up to a metre in length, with finely serrate margins instead of spiny ones like those of Chamaerops humilis. The petioles have approximately the same length as the lamina or a little more, while the petiole of Chamarops can reach up to three times the length of the lamina. Leaves are a dark green in colour on the obverse and greyish -green on the reverse. Each is composite with 30 to 50 segments, rigid and separated by large splits that penetrate halfway through the length of the lamina. Flowers are yellow in colour, aromatic, kidney-shaped, and bluish-black when mature.

Observations: This palm tree is very resistant to the cold and the snow, although they can also resist hotter temperatures, up to 43º C.