Silver Palm

Coccothrinax argentata

• Common Name: Silverpalm (other common names: Thatchpalm)
• Scientific Name: Coccothrinax argentata
• Family Name: Arecaceae
• Origin: native to Florida and North America
• Height: 6’ – 15’ but can get up to 20’
• Width: 6’ – 10’ spread
• Growth: Slow growing (Germination is about 6 weeks, younger plants may grow more quickly to about 2 feet in a couple of years, but then growth slows.)
• Zone: 10B – 11
• Light Needs: Full sun – Partial shade
• Salt Tolerance:  Low – Salt Water Tolerance is Low, it does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water. Salt Wind Tolerance is High, this tree can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without injury.
• Soil/PH/Texture: not fussy about soil – clay, loam, or sand. Alkaline – Acidic (it can grow in nutrient poor soils, or soils with some organic content.)
• Soil Moisture: moderate watering but likes well drained soil.
• Drought Tolerance: High
• Pests/Diseases: free of any serious pests or diseases.
• Growing Conditions: low maintenance and easy to grow.
• Characteristics: The slender silver palm has distinctive dark blue-green, drooping, delicate, deeply divided palmate leaves that are star-shaped which have a beautiful silver color beneath and are spiral in arrangement. The 6-inch-wide trunk is either smooth and grey and is usually covered with woven, burlap-like fiber. The small, white flowers are borne in profusion on 2-foot-long stalks, hidden among the leaves during the summer. The small, round, purple fruits ripen in late summer and fall and are about .5” in length.
• Propagation: by seed
• Wildlife: The larval host plant for monk skipper (Asbolis capucinus) butterflies and Birds eat the fruit from the trees.
• Facts: unknown
• Designer Considerations: for use at a residence it makes a good deck or patio tree in a planter or container, or use as a specimen, or a nice accent in a shrub border.