Phoenix canariensis, the Canary Island date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa. It is a relative of Phoenix dactylifera, the true date palm. It is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands, together with the canary Serinus canaria.
Description
Phoenix canariensis is a large, solitary palm, 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall, the tallest recorded being 36 m (118 ft) tall. The leaves are pinnate, 4–6 m (13–20 ft) long, with 80–100 leaflets on each side of the central rachis. There are typically around 75 to 125 living leaves on a tree, but the record number were on a tree on the French Riviera, which bore 443 green, fresh leaves at one time. The fruit is an oval, yellow to orange drupe 2 cm (0.79 in) long and 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter, and containing a single large seed. The fruit pulp is edible, but is not a particularly good date.
Names
The common name in English is Canary Island date palm, although it is sometimes known by its initials, "CIDP". It has also been called "pineapple palm". The common name in the Canary Islands and other Spanish-speaking countries is palmera canaria.
The variety Phoenix dactylifera var. jubae, now considered a synonym for P. canariensis, was named after King Juba II.
Cultivation
The Canary Island date palm is typically cultivated in wet-winter or Mediterranean climates, but also in wet-summer or humid subtropical climates such as eastern Australia and the south-eastern United States. It is also increasingly being cultivated in higher latitude oceanic climates, such as Ireland, the UK, and the Channel Islands. It can be cultivated where temperatures rarely fall below −10 or −12 °C (14 or 10 °F) for extended periods, although it will require some protection if cold periods are longer than normal. Younger specimens, without a sizeable trunk, are more prone to freezing. It is a...
