Christmas Palm

• Common Name: Christmas Palm (other common names: Manila Palm, Kerpis Palm, Dwarf Royal Palm, Merrill Palm)
  
• Scientific Name: Adonidia merrillii
  
• Family Name: Arecaceae
  
• Origin: Native to the Phillippines and Malaysia (Coron, and Palawan Island).
  
• Height: 15’ - 25’
  
• Width: Canopy spread is 5’ – 8’
  
• Growth: Fast growing until they reach about 6’ tall and then their growth slows down.
  
• Zone: 10A - 11
  
• Light Needs: Full Sun but can tolerate partial shade.
  
• Salt Tolerance: Moderately tolerant of salt spray and saline soils.
  
• Soil/PH/Texture: Has adapted to Florida’s nutrient-poor soils but can suffer from boron deficiency. It prefers slightly sandy soil, neutral – alkaline (PH 6.6 – 8.5).
  
• Soil Moisture: Medium – prefers moist, well-draining soils but not saturated.
  
• Drought Tolerance: Fair
  
• Pests/Diseases: Are relatively disease-free with the exception of being suspectable to an incurable bacterial disease called lethal yellowing. Use a palm specific fertilizer if it is planted in low-nutrient soils to prevent this and other nutrient deficiencies.
  
• Growing Conditions: Low maintenance, it is a self-cleaning palm, meaning that when a leaf dies, it will drop on its own with no pruning necessary. The fruit are the biggest mess, but you can cut the flower stalks before the fruit develops to avoid the cleanup.
  
• Characteristics: This showy evergreen palm has bright green leaves reaching 4’ – 5’ in length. It has clusters of creamy white blooms/florescence in summer followed by light green 1” fruits that mature in the winter and turn bright red just in time for Christmas season.
  
• Propagation: Seed
  
• Wildlife: The fruit does not attract animals.
  
• Facts: The name “Christmas Palm” comes from the bright red fruit it produces in the late fall and winter months making it appear to be decorated for the Christmas holidays.
  
• Designer Considerations: Can be used as a specimen in a residential landscape that is smaller in size, where other palms grow to large and out-scale the house, this palm is perfect in size for almost every residence. It can also be used as a container plant for your patio, along driveways, borders and accents. They are solitary palms but are often planted in groupings of 3 to give the effect of a multi stem appearance, but they may compete for nutrients when grouped.​​​​​​​

Location

Butterfly Garden

Christmas Palm

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