Trachycarpus takil

Welcome to the PACSOA Palms and Cycads wiki! If you have any information about this species, please help by updating this article. Once you are registered you can contribute, change, or correct the text, and even add photos on this page. Click on the edit tab above and play around. Any mistake can be easily corrected, so don't be afraid.

Figure 1. T. takilin habitat, Himalayas.

Common Names:

Kumaon Palm

Distribution & Habitat:

It is found in cool, moist oak forests in the foothills of the Himalaya in the Kumaon Division of northwestern India, and possibly in adjacent western Nepal where it grows at altitudes of 1,800-2,700 metres (5,400-8,200 feet). Here the winters are bitterly cold and snow is common.

Description:

A medium sized, solitary fan palm to about 10-15metres (30-46 feet) tall, with a rough, thin trunk, and a fibrous crown. It is similar to Trachycarpus fortunei but it is taller, more vigorous and larger in all its parts. Also, its fibres are thinner and shed readily, leaving a naturally bare trunk. This should not be confused with Trachycarpus wagnerianus, which was previously known as "Trachycarpus takil". T. wagnerianus has a much smaller and stiffer leaf.

Cultivation:

Likes a sunny, well drained position. Easy to grow but but slow. Reputed to be the most cold hardy trunking palm withstanding temperatures down to -15&degC (5&degF).

Links:

Figure 2. T. takil leaf close-up.

Figure 3. T. takil

Figure 4. T. takil

Figure 5. T. takil

Figure 6. T. takil

Figure 7. T. takil

Figure 8. T. takil infructescence.

Figure 9. T. takil seedling.

Figure 10. T. takil seedlings.

Figure 11. T. takil seedlings.

Contributed by:

Tobias Spanner & Martin Gibbons (Text)
Herbert Riphagen Garden Palms (Figure 1-11)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, eMonocot, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk