Landscape Environment

Grow Region: 8b

Origin: India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

Drought Tolerance: High

Cold Tolerance: 22 F

Salt Tolerance: Moderate

Soil: Adapatable

Light: High

Charateristics

Mature Height: 40 feet

Trunk: 16 inch diameter, large diamond shaped flat scars, persisent leaf bases, aerial roots at base , solitary

Leaf: 10-12 foot pinnate leaf with 200-250 bluish-green leaflets up to 18 inches long in groups of 2 or 3, often criss-crossing

Leaf Petiole: 3 foot long

Armature: lower leaves on petiole are modified spines

Color:

Flowers: 2-3 feet long, multiple branches

Fruit: 1.5-2 inches, oblong, green ripening to purplish-red. Edible.

Human Uses: Dates, sugar, thatching

Classification

Subfamily: Coryphoideae

Tribe: Phoeniceae

Subtribe:

Indian date palm, sugar date palm, silver date palm

Phoenix sylvestris

Indian Date Palm

The Phoenix sylvestris, meaning date palm of the forest in latin, closely resembles a smaller, less imposing version of the P. canariensis, with a very similar, though more compact leaf, trunk and crown.

The P. sylvestris is a stately tree that reaches a height of 40 feet, with a trunk diameter of about 16 inches. It's long pinnate leaves form a dense crown and feature hundreds of blueish-green leaflets in an attrative criss-cross pattern. This is the perfect palm if you prefer the look of a P. canariensis, but not the scale.

The Phoenix sylvestris arguably has a more desirable manicured trunk than the P. canariensis, more closely approximating the scultped, diamond shaped look of the P. dactylifera.

Like all date palms, the P. sylvestris has separate male and female plants. The females produce an abundance of oblong fruits in the inland summer heat. The inflorescence of the plant is cut and the sap used to make sugar. While the fruit is edible, it is not particularly tasty.

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Item #: 5075-1

Availability: In Stock

In Stock Quantity: 0

Price: $108.00

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Clear Trunk Height:

How we measure palms

Conditions for Growth

This palm thrives with regular water in the loamy, well drained soil and summer heat of Riverside, CA. It is said to tolderate drought well, and can thrive in a range of soils and climates, preferring a dry heat in the summer and eduring the coldest inland winters down to 22 degrees before sustaning damage.

Growth Rate and Size

Moderate to fast growth rate of 9-12 inches per year at the Grove, with a 16 inch diameter and 40 foot height in maturity.

Description

The Phoenix sylvestris is a dioecious plant, with separate male and female plants. The trunk is about 16 inches in diameter, solitary, reaching a height of 40 feet at a moderate growth rate of 9-12 inches per year, persisent leaf bases, and aerial roots at base. The manicured trunk has large diamond shaped flat scars. The pinnate leaf is 10-12 foot long, with a 3 foot petiole, pinnately compound with 200-250 bluish-green leaflets in groups of 2 or 3, often criss-crossing with induplicate splitting along adaxial ridges leaf divisions. The bottom of the petiole has modified leaves which are thin, long and spiny. Fruit is oblong, about 1.5-2 inches, green ripening to purplish-red.