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It is a shrub-like clumping palm, with several stems growing from a single base. The stems grow slowly and often tightly together, eventually reaching 2–5 m tall with a trunk diameter of 20–25 cm. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a long petiole terminating in a rounded fan of 10-20 leaflets; each leaf is up to 1-1.5 m long, with the leaflets 50–80 cm long. It also has numerous sharp needle-like spines produced on the leaf stems; these may protect the stem growing point from browsing animals. The flowers are borne in dense, short inflorescences at the top of the stems; it is usually (but not invariably) dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants.

 

 

Mediterranean Fan Palm

 

 

Chamaerops humilis

 

 

 

 

 

The prophyll covers the flowers until the sexual phase (anthesis) and then splits open apically into two triangular lobes. The number of flowers per inflorescence is highly variable for both male and female plants, depending on the size of the inflorescence. Female flowers are tri-ovulate. Unripe fruits are bright green, turning to dull yellow to brown when ripe during the fall (September–November). The seed (usually 0.6–0.8 g) comprises a small cylindrical embryo, which is surrounded by several layers, from inner to outer:  a nutritious endosperm, a wide woody layer or endocarp, a fleshy and fibrous mesocarp (the pulp), and the thin outer layer or exocarp. It has an underground rhizome which produces shoots with palmate, sclerophyllous leaves.

 

 

 

Mediterranean Fan Palms are some of the most durable palms known. They absolutely thrive in intensely hot locations, require minimal water for a palm and survive our periods of freezing weather with little or no damage. For these palms night-time lighting effects, especially when spotlighted, illuminate the multi-trunk structure well, while the fronds cast unique shadow patterns on nearby walls. 

 

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