The Wookie Tree - Plant of the Day: European Fan Palm, "Chamaerops humilis"

After my haitus, which was longer than I anticipated, I am back to my blog and glad to be writing again about my volunteer experience with the incredible plant collections at the Como Conservatory.  At the end of this month, I’ll start spending some of my volunteer time in the Tropical Encounters exhibit.  So I’ll soon be adding information about the plant collections in that area as well.  I already know that some of the plants found in the North Garden and in Tropical Encounters are the same, but as I’m sure we’ll see, there are some unique and interesting plants in there as well.  I’ll probably write about the animals as well.  Their stories and influence on our environment and society can be just as interesting as with our plant species.

This is the first day that I’ve done volunteer work on a Sunday.  My past volunteer days have been on Mondays.  There aren’t that many visitors here but it’s a very pleasant day outside so folks are probably enjoying the outdoors today.

European Fan Palm

I see a multitude of plants that are producing fruits.  The vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia) that surrounds the entry door into the North Garden has been artificially pollinated and is producing vanilla pods.  The Barbados Cherry tree (Malpighia glaubra; West Indies), Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans; Indonesia), Chombo (Capsicum chinense), Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uniflora; Tropical S. America), multiple lime trees and the Tahitian Gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus; Southest Asia) are just some of the fruiting plants that I could see.

As I walk through the Palm Dome, one of our visitors points to the European Fan Palm and states that it should be called the Wookie Tree!  As you can see in the picture, the hairy trunk  does have the very general outward appearance of a Wookie from Star Wars.

The plant of the day is the Wookie Tree, AKA the European Fan Palm, Mediterranean Fan Palm, Dwarf Fan Palm and Palmito.  It’s the only palm native to the Mediterranean area of Europe where the climate is sunny, hot and dry.  This palm is a popular landscape plant, especially in areas where tropical palms might not fare well.  It’s main contribution to human society is a landscape plant but its trunk fibers can be used to stuff upholstery.

For more information:

M. E. Merlo, M. M. Alema, J. Cabello, and J. Penas.  1993.  On the Mediterranean Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis).  Principes, 37(3), pp. 151-158.

http://www.palms.org/principes/1993/vol37n3p151-158.pdf

Florida Palm Trees            http://www.florida-palm-trees.com/european-fan-palm-tree/