European (Mediterranean) Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis)

With Spring here once more, it's now time to head out and begin enjoying our pool area and the fine weather that Las Vegas is noted for. The beautiful landscaping and lush pool area was one of the main reasons we moved into this apartment home complex. Sitting by the pool always makes us feel like we are on vacation at some south Pacific island. Here is just another example of the palms gracing our pool area are the European Fan Palm. We must have at least 20-25 of these wonderful little palms, usually in clumps of 4-5 palms. These pictures were taken on various pool visits over the past several years.

DESCRIPTION: The European Fan Palm Tree (Chamaerops humilis) is also known as Mediterranean Fan Palm, Dwarf Fan Palm, and Palmito. It is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe. It is a shrub-like clumping palm, with several stems growing from a single base reaching a height of only 7-10 feet with a width of about 10 feet.  The trunks are covered in old leaf bases and brown fibers, can reach 9-12 inches in diameter. They rarely grow higher than 10 feet and can take 10-15 years to achieve 7ft.

It has triangular, palmate, or fan shaped, leaves that range from blue green to silvery gray in color. Leaves grow outward then upward. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a long petiole terminating in a rounded fan of 10-20 leaflets; each leaf is up to 3-4 feet long, with the leaflets 20-30 inches long. It also has numerous sharp needle-like spines produced on the leaf stems; these protect the stem growing point from browsing animals. During late spring months it produces small yellow flowers. The flowers are monoecious, individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant. Flowers are borne in dense, short clusters at the top of the stems, followed by green fruits that turn a brownish orange when ripe. Fruits are around 0.5 inch in diameter, develop in fall and are not edible.