Ornamental Horticulture

PALMS

Palms are mainly tropical plants known for their tall, unbranched trunks topped by a crown of fan-shaped or feathery fronds which are sculpturistic in nature.

The Palmae family has more than 200 genera and 3000 species. They are suitable for outdoor

planting as well for indoors.

Details of some of the popularly grown palms are furnished below

S. No.	Common Name	Remarks
1.	Royal palm Oreodoxa regia	Large, solitary palm, about 20m tall, with a grey trunk, and graceful, leaves; very good for avenue planting.
2.	Areca palm Areca lutescens	A very attractive clustering palm to about 3 m high, with light green stems, and dark green fronds. It has fragrant, lemon scented, pale yellow flowers, which form into orange fruit about 25 mm (1 inch) long.
3.	Silver date palm Phoenix sylvestris	A very tall, slender palm with recurving, plumose, glaucouse fronds, faster growing. Typically has a swollen base, and retains the leaf bases on the trunk. It is ornamental when young
4.	Miniature date palm Phoenix roebelenii	Quite a popular plant due to its hardiness, attractiveness and small size (good for small areas). Interestingly enough, all the cultivated plants are single trunked, yet in the wild, they are all clumping, and single trunked specimens haven't been found
5.	Fish-tail palm Caryota urens	Popular due to its unique leaf type