Phoenix canariensis     
Canary Island date palm   
Palmae Family     

Form: palm with feather fronds, tall with stout trunk
Seasonality: evergreen
Size: 40-60ft with frond spread of 20-40ft, slow growing reaching 10ft in 15 years
Leaves: pinnate feather-like fronds, arching at top, 15-20ft long, green, long-lived, toothed petioles
Flowers: dioecious; brush-like stalks to 6ft long bearing small off-white flowers
Fruit: on female trees, round yellow-orange fruit, 1/2in across; not edible
Stems/Trunks: trunk more massive than P. dactylifera, to 4ft across (including frond sheath); often pruned to pineapple shape
Range/Origin: Canary Islands
Hardiness: damaged at 20°F; frond damage is unattractive, slow to recover

Phoenix canariensis

LANDSCAPE VALUE:

• skyline tree
• roadsides
• oasis effect

CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Exposure: full sun
• Water: infrequent deep irrigations
• Soil: uniform soil, either sand or loam okay
• Propagation: seed
• Maintenance: high, messy fruit drop, frond pruning and cleanup

NOTES:

P. canariensis greener than P. dactylifera, cleaner trunk, fronds more arching

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This page was first created July 4, 2001 and last modified May 16, 2004.

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Web page design and photographs by Toni Moore, Master Gardener
email to: tmoore1@flash.net

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