Herbario Virtual del Mediterráneo Occidental
Àrea de Botànica, Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Phoenix canariensis Chabaud
Family : PALMAE
Genus : Phoenix
Catalan common name : Fasser de jardí. Palmera de Canàries.
Spanish common name : Palma canaria. Palma de jardín. Palmera de Canarias.
Distribution in the islands : Ibiza. Mallorca. Minorca.
Life-forms : Macrophanerophyte.
Habitat : Gardens.
Uses and properties : Symbolic uses.
Observations : This is one of the more frost resistant palms.
Status : Alien species.
Origen : Illes Canàries
Location on-campus UIB : Aparcament i a un lateral de l'edifici Mateu Orfila, petits exemplars plantats a l'entrada de l'edifici Anselm Turmeda, Jardí de Son Lledó, etc.
Description : A palm that is similar in appearance to Phoenix dactylifera, but has a shorter and studier trunk, some 6-8 m, but can reach up to 12 to 14 m and rarely above 20 m. In taller examples of this species, the trunk resembles a thick column decorated by leaf scars. The crown is formed by a greater number of palm leaves than P. dactylifera, with each successive leaf wider, with a more intense green, and a greater leaf quantity and density. Folioles are rigid and pointed. The petioles have large spines at the leaf base; you can observe an entire range of transition between these true spines and the folioles. The leaves are a lustrous green, with the under story folioles less rigid and green in colour. Fruit is 1.5 cm in length, dry and inedible.
