Palms & Cycads

PALMS
The Parque de Malaga presents the visitor with a fascinating array of palms, with many examples drawn from around the Mediterranean, sub-tropical and tropical world.

To begin with, it is the Washingtonias and Braheas which, alongside the mature trees, provide the true height & structure to the Parque, standing sentinel like against the blue sky. The Canary Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis) smartly line the Paseo del Parque main road, and working down from these taller plantings are a few dozen genera and species  from medium height down to groundcover which provide the area with a true feeling of tropicality in a busy city centre.

Whilst some plants have had to be removed through necessity in recent years, both through the Parque’s  recent redevelopment and through the threat of the Red Palm Weevil  (see the separate section in this blog about this pest) many truly mature specimens still remain and, as already mentioned,  the area is under constant change, with dozens of younger plants having  been  introduced in the last few years. The visitor may well find new specimens.

There’s a nice introductory video done a few years ago by students from the University of Malaga, in Spanish, on some of the more notable palms you can find in the area…

The alphabetical list below is based on my own survey plus others from the latest publication “El Parque de Malaga. Un Ejemplo de Biodiversidad.” by Garreta & Asensi (see the Books section) where you can find much more detailed information.  As this blog develops  I’ll attempt to add more information on as many of these as possible, really as a way of learning about them one by one. Check the drop down menu for individual photos and profiles.

Note: I’ve included some genera such as Encephalartos, Dicksonia, Dypsis,  etc. which I’m well aware aren’t classified botanically as “Palms,” but they have a Palm-like habit…This is a personal blog, so I have taken the liberty of including them here. It’s just my means of grouping plants together……I’ll leave the strict botany to other sites !

PALMS, CYCADS and plants of similar habit …

Acoelorrhape wrightii, Acrocomia aculeata, Allagoptera arenaria, Archontophoenix alexandrae, A. cunninghamia, A. purpurea (these last two may have been removed),  Arecastrum romanzoffianum (syn. Syragus romanzoffiana), Arenga engleri, A. micrantha, A.tremula,

Bismarckia nobilis, Brahea armata (syn Erythea armata) Brahea brandegeei, Butia capitata, B. yatay,

Caryota gigas (syn. obtusa), C. mitis, C. urens, Chamaedorea costericana, C.elegans, C.metallica, C.microspadix, C.oblongata, C.seifrizii,  Chamaerops humilis, Chambeyronia macrocarpa, Coccothrinax alta, Copernicia alba, Cryosophila stauracantha,  Cycas circinalis, C. revoluta,

Dicksonia Antarctica, Dictosperma album, Dioon spinulosum, Dypsis decaryi, D. leptocheilos, D. lutescens (syn. Chrysalidocarpus lutescens), D. madagascariensis,

Encephalartos laurentianus,

Gaussia maya

Howea belmoreana, H. forsteriana,(Howea syn. Kentia) Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, Hyphaene coriacea

Jubea chilensis, Jubaeopsis caffra,

Latania lontaroides, Licuala spinosa, Livistonia australis, L. benthamii, L. chinensis, L.decora, L.fulva, L.nitida, L.rigida (to confirm) L.rotundifolia, L.saribus,

Macrozamia moorei

Nannorrhops ritchieana

Parajubaea torallyi, Phoenix canariensis, P. dactylifera, P. reclinata, P. roebelenii, P. rupicola, P. sylvestris, P. theoprasti, Pritchardii hillebrandii, P.munroi, Ptychosperma caryotoides, Ptychospernum elegans,

Ravenea rivularis, Rhapsis excelsa, Rhapsis humilis, Rhopalostylis sapida, Roystonia boringuena, R.regia,  R.oleracea

Sabal mauritiiformis (syn. Trithrinax), S. palmetto (syn. S.blackburniana), Syagrus coronata, Syagrus romanzoffiana (syn. Arecastrum), S.schizophylla (syn. Cocos)

Trachycarpus fortunei (syn.T. wagnerianus), Trithinax brasiliensis,

Veitchia arecina, Veitchia joannis,

Washingtonia filifera, W. robusta, Wodyetia bifurcata.

The stunning blue colour and rigid habit of Bismarckia nobilis