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Syagrus romanzoffiana
Also called Giriba Palm
The queen palm is a medium-sized feather palm from South America, grown widely as an ornamental street and garden tree in warm climates. It grows fast and needs full sun and a frost-free site.
Syagrus romanzoffiana, the queen palm, cocos palm or Jerivá, is a palm native to South America, introduced throughout the world as a popular ornamental garden tree. S. romanzoffiana is a medium-sized palm, quickly reaching maturity at a height of up to 15 m (49 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves having as many as 494 pinnae (leaflets), although more typically around 300, each pinna being around 50 centimetres (18 in) in length and 3–5 centimetres (1–2 in) in width.
The queen palm is planted in many tropical and subtropical areas. It is popular as an ornamental tree and much used in urban landscaping. It is hardy, to -5 °C (zone 9a), but the dead fronds must be pruned to keep the tree visually pleasing. In some areas the fallen fruit are known for attracting unwelcome insects.
The palm is often cut down in Brazil to use the leaves and inflorescences to provide animal (cattle) fodder, especially in times of drought. The leaves are similarly used in Argentina. Its fruits are edible and sometimes eaten; consisting of a hard nut surrounded with a thin layer of fibrous flesh that is orange and sticky when ripe. The flavour is sweet and could be described as a mixture of plum and banana.
It occurs from eastern and central Paraguay and northern Argentina north to eastern and southern Brazil and northern Uruguay. It is also native to Bolivia. It is quite common in its native range.
Syagrus weddelliana · Drooling Nut · Blue Rocky Syagrus · Catole Palm · Syagrus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Syagrus romanzoffiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
