regnum-plantae:

Roystonea regia, Arecaceae

In about a year and a half of writing about plants, I’ve only mentioned one member of the Arecaceae, but there is so much diversity within the palm trees that it was about time I started featuring them more often. Living in Scotland, where they are grown mostly in dedicated palm-houses, doesn’t particularly help, so here’s my favourite one from Lanzarote. The Cuban royal palm is native to Mexico, Central America and some Caribbean Islands, but is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant around the world where the climate allows it. This palm grows large and has some beautiful distinctive features; the trunk is straight, smooth, grey-white and when they are planted in groups they almost resemble a forest of pale stone columns surmounted by a green, feathery crown held up and sheathed by the oldest leaf’s petiole. 

I really like palms and I remember being fascinated by an illustration I saw on one of my books as a kid: it depicted a coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) and how each and every part of the plant had a practical use. I then realised the same goes for many palm trees in their native area, as they are often some of the most useful plants around, from which different kind of goods can be produced. The Cuban royal palm is one of them and provides forage, combustible, fibre, thatching, building material and medicine all at once, while looking beautiful and statuesque too.