''Trachycarpus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of ten species of palms native to

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, from the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

east to eastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. They are fan palms (subfamily

Coryphoideae The Coryphoideae is one of five subfamilies in the palm family, Arecaceae. It contains all of the genera with palmate leaves, excepting '' Mauritia'', '' Mauritiella'' and '' Lepidocaryum,'' all of subfamily Calamoideae, tribe Lepidocaryeae, ...

), with the

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. The leaf bases produce persistent

fibres Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorp ...

that often give the trunk a characteristic hairy appearance. All species are

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants although female plants will sometimes produce male flowers, allowing occasional self-pollination.

Cultivation and uses

The most common species in cultivation is ''

Trachycarpus fortunei ''Trachycarpus fortunei'', also known as the Chusan palm,Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'', 8th ed., vol. 4. John Murray. . Chinese windmill palm, or simply the Windmill palm, is a species of hardy evergreen pal ...

'' (Chusan palm or windmill palm), which is the northernmost naturally-growing palm species in the world. Cities as far north as

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

have long term cultivated palms in several areas. The dwarf form, known as ''T. wagnerianus,'' is unknown in the wild, and is now considered synonymous with ''T. fortunei'' Flora of China
''Trachycarpus fortunei''
/ref> or treated as a

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

of that species. It resembles ''T. fortunei'' closely, differing only in its smaller and stiffer leaves. Hybrids between the two are intermediate in size and fully fertile. ''

Trachycarpus takil ''Trachycarpus takil'', the Kumaon palm, is a fan palm tree that is endemic to the foothills of the Himalaya in southern Asia. It is very similar to ''Trachycarpus fortunei'', the windmill palm. Distribution The palm tree is native to the Kuma ...

'' (the Kumaon palm) is similar to ''T. fortunei'' and probably even hardier. Other species less common in cultivation are ''T. geminisectus'', ''T. princeps'', ''T. latisectus'', ''T. martianus'', ''T. nanus'' and ''T. oreophilus''. ''Trachycarpus martianus'' and ''T. latisectus'' do not tolerate cold as well as ''T. fortunei'' or ''T. takil''. ''Trachycarpus geminisectus'', ''T. princeps'' and ''T. oreophilus'' are still too rare and small in cultivation to assess their full potential. Two additional species have been described recently: ''Trachycarpus'' ''ukhrulensis'' from

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

and ''T. ravenii'' from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

; the former is known from cultivation as ''Trachycarpus'' sp. "Manipur" or ''Trachycarpus'' sp. "Naga Hills". The trunk fibres produced by the leaf sheaths of ''Trachycarpus fortunei'' are harvested in China and elsewhere to make coarse but very strong

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

brooms A broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool, consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a v ...

and

brushes A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during u ...

. This use gives rise to the old alternative name "hemp-palm". The fibrous leaf sheaths are also frequently used to clothe the stems of artificial palms. This genus is very popular among palm enthusiasts for its ability to withstand cold, especially in the form of damp, cool summer weather with relatively mild winter weather. These palms often tolerate snow in their native

habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

and are the hardiest trunking palms. ''Trachycarpus'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including ''

Paysandisia archon ''Paysandisia archon'' is a moth of the family Castniidae. It is native to Uruguay and central Argentina and has been accidentally introduced to Europe, where it is spreading rapidly. It is considered the only member of the genus ''Paysandisia''. ...

'' (recorded on ''T. fortunei'').

Species

As of January 2025, the genus ''Trachycarpus'' comprises 10 accepted species.

References

Bibliography

*Beccari, O. (1931). Asiatic Palms - Corypheae (ed. U. Martelli). ''Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard''. (Calcutta) 13: 1-356. *Kimnach, M. (1977). The Species of Trachycarpus. ''Principes'' 21: 155-160. *Meerow, A. W. (2005). Betrock's Cold Hardy Palms. Betrock Information Systems, Inc., Hollywood, Florida.

External links

WCSP, World checklist of Palms: ''Trachycarpus''Flora of China: ''Trachycarpus'' species listFlora of Nepal: ''Trachycarpus'' species listPACSOA: ''Trachycarpus''

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Palm & Cycad Societies of Florida
{{Taxonbar, from=Q157364 Arecaceae genera Dioecious plants