Palm trees are among the most popular houseplants. With their beautiful fan or pinnate leaves, they conjure up a Mediterranean ambience in any room. Contrary to popular belief, however, not all palm trees are sun worshipers and each species has slightly different requirements when it comes to light and water. That's why it's important to know which palm tree you have. Despite the great diversity - there are over 2,000 palm subspecies - it is relatively easy to identify a palm tree as such.
How to identify palm tree species?
To identify palm trees, look for pinnate or fan palm, the appearance of the trunk, flowers, fruits and the roots. Differences in leaf shapes, trunk structures and any thorns that may be present help to narrow down the species.
Feather palm or fan palm?
Palm trees are classified into two groups with numerous subgroups:
- Feather Palms
- Fan palms.
Feather palms can be recognized by their deeply cut leaf segments, which resemble feathers. The leaves of the fan palm are semicircular with less severe incisions.
Appearance of the tribe
In many types of palm trees, due to the aging process, the foliage dries and falls off the trunk. It leaves a scar that is responsible for the typically structured appearance of the palm trunk.
In some palms, such as the Canary Island date palm, the leaves near the trunk are formed into thorns. This can serve as another identifying feature.
Flowers and fruits
These would be an important defining feature. Unfortunately, many palm trees cultivated in the garden or indoors never bloom and therefore do not produce any fruit.
However, you can definitely recognize the coconut palm because it grows out of the coconut lying on the substrate. This is one of the special charms of this type of palm tree.
No secondary thickness growth
The fact that you are dealing with a palm plant and not a tree becomes clear when you look closely at the trunk. Unlike woody plants, palm trees have no secondary growth.
The leaves growing from the top of the heart give the palm trees their characteristic appearance. The trunk widens only through the remains of the dead leaves.
However, there are also palm trees that form runners and, over time, appear like a small group of palm trees.
Roots
Palm tree roots, unlike the roots of almost all plants, branch little and do not form hairy roots. Many palm plants, especially those that actually come from desert regions, also have deep roots.
Tip
In addition to real palm trees, there are also various plants that are only referred to as palm trees in our language. These include the yucca, an asparagus plant, and the poisonous Madagascar palm.