Scientific Name : Roystonea regia (Kunth) O.F. Cook
Common Name : Royal Palm
Chinese Name : 大王椰子, 王棕
Family : ARECACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Cuba, Central America, Central Mexico, Caribbean and Southeast United States. |
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| Applications | The species is a popular street tree due to its polished and exotic appearance with relatively high aesthetic values. Cultivating Royal Palm on the two sides of a road is a common practice, giving the sense of grandness and magnificence while create a spectacular scene by orderly rows. The species is an excellent plant for garden landscaping. However, it is adapted to hot and humid climate, and only endures low temperature for a short period of time. Therefore, Royal Palm is mostly cultivated in tropical regions. Since its fruits contain oil, they can be used as pig feed. Their seeds can be fodder for pigeons. |
| Meanings of name | Since its giant size stands out of the crowd in the family of palms, Royal Palm is given the Chinese Names “King of Coconut (大王椰子)” and “King Palm (王棕)”, depicting it as the King of palms. |
| National Tree | The Royal Palm is the National Tree of Cuba. |
| Growing habi | Tree-like palm, erect. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 30 m. |
| Roots | The base of the trunk shows visibly grey-coloured exposed roots. The roots are stacked up into multiple layers, looking alike a chestnut cake. |
| Stems | Stout, with a diameter to 0.5 m. Greyish white, smooth, swollen partially, looking alike a tummy. |
| Leaves | Crowded at the apex of stem. Pinnate, large, pendulous like an arch, with 250 elongated-lanceolate pinnae on each side, arranged in 4 rows of different plane. Apices of pinnae shallowly 2-lobed. Leaf sheaths embrace the stem, thick and green. |
| Flowers | Inflorescence milky white to milky yellow, branching many, dense. Shaped like corals. |
| Fruits | Subglobose to obovoid, marron (dark red) when mature, with 1 seed. |
| Flowering period | March to April in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | October in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website : https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=9786
Scientific names from other databases
― Plants of the World Online : Roystonea regia (Kunth) O.F.Cook