Mediterranean Gardens
Continuing on the theme of palm trees, this
month I want to highlight the palmate (fan) leaf
palms. As mentioned in the first article (Dec.
2014) palmate palms share the characteristic
that all leaflets (segments) on one leaf sprout
from a common base, the top of the petiole.
Fan leaves from the palmate palms are typically
circular or paddle shaped, or shaped like a
portion of a circle. The leaf may be divided into
segments or entire,
without divisions. Most
fan palm leaves do
have divisions into
segments. They can
even be severely divided
like the spokes of a
bicycle wheel, with the
space between the
segments extending
deep down to where the Rhapis
segment emerge from the petiole. Some Rhapis
species are examples of this. Or, they can be
near complete without divisions or segments, an
example being Licuala elegans.
People who
have a little
knowledge
about the world
of palms and
can distinguish
between
Licuala
feather and
fan palms tend to prefer feather palms for their
garden instead of the fan palms because the
feather palms are considered more tropical and
the fan palms more desert palms. Although
not true, the fact remains that one of the most
16
Roald Goorman
commonly planted palm species around is a
desert fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) and that
is probably the cause of this misconception on
fan-leaved palms. I must admit that I am not a
huge fan (no pun intended!) of Washingtonias
either. Perhaps too common, and they grow
incredibly fast, which is not necessarily an
advantage as the canopy quickly grows out of
view and you are left with a brown trunk in view
with the green leaves high up for the enjoyment
of the neighbours. Added to that, they are
incredibly messy, pro X