Tag: dwarf

Leipzig Palms Improving Air Quality and Reducing Global Warming

Leipzig Palms (LE Palms) don’t just cultivating rare and endangered palms of the red list. We cultivating also palms for better air quality and for a more diverse environment. Diversity, conservation and environmental protection with palms are possible, especially in extreme environments like in dry and barren landscapes. Palms can filter the air from different toxic substances and cool down urban areas and bigger cities which heating up very much.  More and more droughts coming to Europe because of the human-made climate change and the resulting extreme weather. Together with Greening Deserts projects we want to reduce the global warming on a significant level.

Phoenix roebelenii, with common names of pygmy date palm, miniature date palm or just robellini, is a species of date palm native to southeastern Asia, from southwestern China (Yunnan Province), northern Laos and northern Vietnam.

The dwarf date palm is a multi-stemmed palm, in culture it remains sometimes with one stem. It forms clumps where stemless shoots grow around the base of higher trunks. The trunk becomes 1 to 2, rarely up to 3 m high. The diameter is up to 10 cm without sheaths. The trunk is upright or twisted, bright, becoming smooth in old age. He is occupied with diamond-shaped leaf bases.

The leaves are arched, 1 to 1.5, rarely 2 m long. The pseudostiel is about 50 cm long. The leaf sheath is reddish brown and fibrous. The acanthophylls (pinnae turned into thorns) are solitary or paired, about 12 on each side of the rhachis. They are orange-green and up to 8 cm long. The leaflets are regular, opposite, about 25 to 50 on each side of the rachis. They are linear, deep green to 40 cm long and 1.2 cm wide.

Barrow argued in 1998 that, because of the small area of distribution and the collection of wild plants for trade, a classification as vulnerable was warranted. However, the IUCN does not lead the species in its Red List. The Dwarf Date Palm is a popular ornamental plant in Europe. It can be found worldwide in botanical gardens and private collections.

The plant purifies the air of formaldehyde, xylenes and toluene.

Source: Wikipedia

Chamaerops Humilis Fan Palms from Leipzig

LE Palms cultivating Chamaerops humilis and Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera in Leipzig, Germany. Other sorts can be cultivated on demand. It is a great fan palm not just for the mediterranean regions like North Africa and South Europe, it’s also a great palm for urban areans and hot cities. Palms are always good to cool down hot areas and to have more diversity for the urban greening.

Chamaerops is a genus of flowering plants in the palm family Arecaceae. The only currently fully accepted species is Chamaerops humilis, variously called European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm. It is one of the most cold-hardy palms and is used in landscaping in temperate climates. Apart from the fully accepted Chamaerops humilis, there are a few taxa of unresolved status plus numerous species synonymised under Chamaerops humilis. The species Chamaerops humilis itself has three accepted varieties as follows:

Chamaerops humilis var. argentea André (syn. C. h. var. cerifera) – “Atlas mountain palm” of Northwest Africa. Leaves glaucous.
Chamaerops humilis var. epondraes – Northwest Africa. Leaves glaucous.
Chamaerops humilis var. humilis – Southwest Europe. Leaves green.

There also are at least three cultivars (C. humilis var. humilis ‘Nana’, C. humilis ‘Vulcano’, C. humilis ‘Stella’). C. humilis ‘Vulcano’ is a 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.

Chamaerops humilis is one of only two palm species native to continental Europe, the other being Phoenix theophrasti. It is mainly found in southwestern Europe (Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, over all the Mediterranean coast of Spain and Portugal, central and southern Italy, some parts of the southern Mediterranean coast of France and Monaco, as well as northwest Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia). It is the northernmost naturally occurring palm in the world, with the northernmost standing at Hyères-les-Palmiers, at 43° 07′ N.

Chamaerops humilis is valued in gardening and landscaping in many parts of the world. It is very drought-tolerant once established. It is hardy to −12 °C (10 °F), but does prefer hot summers. It is a very slow-growing plant. The blue form of the species, native to high elevations of the Atlas Mountains, has recently been introduced into the trade and early reports indicate that it may be −12 °C (−22 °F) or more degrees hardier than the green form.

It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaerops