''Coccothrinax proctorii'', the Cayman thatch palm or Proctor's silver palm, is a

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (b ...

which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the Cayman Islands. Henderson and colleagues (1995) considered ''C. proctorii'' to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''

Coccothrinax argentata ''Coccothrinax argentata'', commonly called the Florida silver palm, is a species of palm tree. It is native to south Florida, southeast Mexico, Colombia and to the West Indies, where it is found in the Bahamas, the southwest Caribbean and the ...

''.

Description

A medium-sized palm, with a slender trunk, and an open crown, of deeply divided leaves, with nearly perfectly symmetrical divisions, dark green above, and silvery white below. The trunk type is solitary.

Horticulture

It prefers a sunny, moist, but well-drained position. It is salt tolerant, and prefers an alkaline soil with a position in full sun, or light shade, in a tropical or subtropical climate, and once established, can endure quite a bit of coastal exposure. While slow growing, it can be grown on just coral limerock. Indoors it also makes a neat bonsai, that can even be cultivated just on a piece of coral limerock, practically without soil.

Conservation

It is considered Endangered by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, having declined to about 435,699 mature individuals in 2000 from a projected original population of 600,000. This population has still continued declining, and the projected 2013 population is around 428,500 mature individuals. In a century, the population will have likely declined to only about 123,500 individuals, all restricted to protected areas.

References

proctorii Trees of the Cayman Islands Plants described in 1980 {{tree-stub