Canary Island Date Palm
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Canary Island Date Palm ( Phoenix canariensis ) |
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| Phoenix canariensis | ||||||||||||
| Hoard. ex Chabaud |
The Canary Island Date Palm ( Phoenix canariensis ) is a species of the genus Date Palms ( Phoenix ) from the palm family (Arecaceae). It is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands .
description
The Canary Island date palm reaches heights of growth between 8 and 18 meters, occasionally up to over 20 meters and a trunk diameter of around 50 cm. The straight, thick trunk is covered with diamond-shaped scars that appear when the leaves fall off. In contrast to the real date palm , the trunk is always unbranched. It forms a lush crown. The leaves are 5 to 6 meters long, crooked, fresh green fronds, with individual leaflets being 40 to 50 cm long.
The Canary Island date palm is dioeciously separated sexes ( diocesan ). The male flowers are yellowish-white and are grouped in dense, pendulous inflorescences . The yellow, female flowers are arranged in spike-like inflorescences. The flowering period extends from February to June.
The dark brown, only slightly fleshy berries have a length of 1.5 to 2.5 cm and a diameter of about 1.2 cm. The fruits are in principle edible, but are only used as feed dates for pigs and goats.
Occurrence
The Canary Island Date Palm is endemic to the Canary Islands and introduced to Madeira , the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands . It is also often planted as a park and avenue tree in the Mediterranean area.
use
On the Canary Islands, especially on La Gomera , the Canary Island with the most palm trees, palm honey has been extracted from the date palm since the 16th century . To do this, a notch is made in the vegetation cone, from which the juice runs out overnight. For three to six months the palm gives 8 to 14 liters of juice a day. You should then stop tapping it for a few years so that the palm can recover. In 1999 the date palm was legally declared a symbol of the island of Gomera and has been under strict protection ever since.
Floristry
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Phoenix canariensis is a fast-growing, very robust and adaptable palm species, which is relatively easy to care for. This means that even larger plants can be acquired very cheaply. For this reason, Canary Island date palms are the most common palm species in the world that are planted in public gardens and squares. With approx. -5 ° C to -10 ° C, the plant has a relatively high frost resistance and is therefore one of the most widespread palm trees in outdoor cultivation worldwide. It is cultivated outdoors in the warmest regions of Western Europe, including in temperate climates. Specimens grow with little or no protection, especially in the mildest areas of Great Britain, western France and the Cologne Bay. Larger specimens are now also offered as bulk goods in temperate climates, where they are often offered as promotional goods in supermarkets in spring. Smaller specimens are often used as a container plant.
swell
literature
- Peter Schönfelder , Ingrid Schönfelder: Kosmos Atlas Mediterranean and Canary Islands flora , Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-440-09361-1
- Hohenester / Welss: Excursion flora for the Canary Islands , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3466-7
- Cabrera Pérez: The native flora of the Canary Islands , 1999, ISBN 84-241-3550-4
