Category: The World of Palms Glasshouse Trail

Stories from the Biomes: My Experience with the Biomes Decant, by Horticulturist Szymon Drozdek

It all started with one houseplant. That one plant, a Crassula ovata (money plant), led me to having one of the healthiest obsessions human beings can possibly have;…

Chusan Palm

Trachycarpus fortune This hardy oriental palm survives not only the Edinburgh climate, but in the far north west of Scotland. At Scourie in Sutherland a specimen is growing…

Bangkoule palm

Livistona carinensis This desert fan palm, native to Somalia in NE Africa, to Djibouti and to Yemen in southern Arabia, is found along creek sides and in valley…

Bangalow palm

Archontophoenix cunninghamia This Australian palm bears attractive trusses of violet flowers followed by red fruits. It occurs in warm humid tropical and subtropical forests. Its popular name reflects…

Canary Island date palm

Phoenix canariensis This solitary palm can reach heights in excess of 40 metres in its native islands, where it is also known as the pineapple palm. It is…

Fishtail palm

Caryota mitis Gracefully arching overhead are the tall fronds of this distinctive palm, with each leaflet resembling the tail fin of a fish. In common with most of…

Latanier palm

Roscheria melanochaetes This young palm gives gives visitors a chance to get up close – but beware the rings of black spines at each leaf junction with the…

Slender lady palm

Raphis humilis This elegant palm is native to southern China and tends, as here in the Tropical Palm House, to produce a dense stand of many thin stems,…

Rattan

Calamus flagellum Rattans are unusual vine-like palms which do not produce the characteristic clustered crown of foliage. Instead, they have long spaces between each leaf on their very…

Coco de Mer

Lodoicea maldivica This remarkable palm, with its spectacular double-barrelled fruit, has had an intriguing history ever since it was first documented as Coco das Maldivas (coconut of the…

Sabal (Bermuda) palm

Sabal bermudiana This fan palm has been nurtured for around 200 years. It is one of only two remaining plant specimens which grew first in the Leith Walk…

Dwarf palmetto

Sabal minor This low-growing fan palm is one of the most frost-hardy species, surviving temperatures as low as –18 °C in the wild. It is native to the…

Feather duster palm

Rhopalostylis sapida Native to warm temperate parts of South Island New Zealand, where it is also known as the Nikau palm, this species is the southernmost palm in…

European fan palm

Chamaerops humilis This is the only species of palm native to Europe, where it occurs on Mediterranean coasts from the southwest, in Spain and Portugal, through Malta, southern…

Australian fan palm

Livistona australis This vigorous palm of swamps and margins of coastal Australian rainforest is one of the fastest-growing species in our collection. Trunk sections are on display as…

Kentia palm

Howea forsteriana This species occurs only on Lord Howe Island, a small ‘tropical paradise’ island 400 miles east of, and part of, New South Wales, Australia. Here it…

Stone gate palm

Trachycarpus princeps This is the first palm in our World of Palms glasshouse trail, that highlights 16 of the palms in our living collection at the Royal Botanic…