Phoenix Species, African Wild Date Palm, Senegal Date Palm

I have planted a 4+ foot SD palm on a rocky slope in a village in the Azores with a mild oceanic subtropical climate with temperatures be...Read Moretween 48F and 85F year round including nights, with temperatures predominantly in 50Fs and 60Fs most of the year (cities are a couple degrees warmer). "Winter" nights are usually 48F through 60F with low 50Fs most of the time and winter days are low 50Fs through high 50Fs with occasional 60-65F. Summer nights are 60Fs through low 70Fs and days are low 70Fs and up to high low to mid 80Fs, maybe an occasional 85F in July and August, but daily mid 70Fs are prevalent. I yet to find out whether this palm will grow on a rocky slope (not very steep), long term. So far the newly grown frond was snapped broken in strong wind gust. Perhaps after it establishes itself the fronds will grow stronger and more resistant to the winds. I will keep updated.

This plant is hardier than suggested, we have large 20 foot specimens here that have ben around for years, and it never gets burned in wi...Read Morenter like the canaries do,but then again im borderline zone 9 zone 8b coastal

This palm is one of the most attractive palms I favor (and enjoy), but it is listed as a Category Two Invasive by the Florida Exotic Pest...Read More Plant Council (FLEPPC) for central and southern Florida (zones 9a through 11) and the Keys. It is a suckering palm that forms dense, spiky thickets of tall fronds and some trunks, especially in moist to moderately dry sites. It has increasingly escaped from cultivation into natural areas and habitats in central and southern Florida and the Keys, forming dense, clustering, spiky thickets in favored conditions in natural areas, potentially crowding out surrounding native vegetation. In Florida, it has escaped and spread from cultivation into many habitats such as mangrove swamps, pinelands, wet or moist habitats, moderately moist habitats, moderately dry habitats (including xeric or prairie hammock sites or moist depressions or sloughs), moist or dry hammocks with moist depressions, wet or moderately dry pinelands or pine flatwoods, swampy sites or swamps, disturbed areas invaded by other exotic plants (seems to compete well with even Brazilian Pepper and Australian Pine) as well as many other similar habitats. It spreads by seed (dispersed by birds) and by suckering and division, often becoming invasive and forming dense, clustering, wild spiky thickets in natural habitats in central and southern Florida where it has naturalized. It is especially invasive in mangrove swamps, where it forms the largest thickets and groves, potentially altering the native ecosystem and crowding out surrounding vegetation. Iguanas and exotic wildlife also not native to Florida that have escaped into the wild often hide in the thickets of this plant. This palm widely cultivated and is popular in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It also does well in arid regions. It's sad that this palm is invasive in central and southern Florida in natural areas because this is SUCH an attractive palm, even though it is introduced... in fact, it is one of my favorite palms. Guess I won't be planting this one.

MORE FACTS - This palm has gone wild and has naturalized in many habitats and natural areas in central and southern Florida and the Keys, becoming invasive and likely crowding out native vegetation. It is now listed as a Category Two Invasive by the FLEPPC (Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council). It is currently found in and naturalized in several counties in Florida, including Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe (the Keys), Collier, Lee, and Pinellas counties, according to the ISB Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. It thrives in zones 9a through 11 and is an excellent palm for landscaping, but should not be allowed to spread into natural areas in central and southern Florida and the Keys (zones 9a through 11)!

I have never seen a "true" phoenix reclinata in cultivation, or at least the same kind of phoenix species as in the habitat. In their hab...Read Moreitat in northern South Africa, they tend to have very dark lightly fiberous stems around 5 to 6 inches in diameter and very dark green leaves, and never higher than 20 feet, and in the North, like in Malawi they tend to have stems up to a foot thick and lighter leaves and growing up to 40 feet tall.