Why Palms for the Central Florida landscape?
The real question here might be, “Why not palms for the Central Florida landscape?” Palms provide a geographic aesthetic that separates Floridian gardening and landscaping from much of the rest of the country. These emblematic and evergreen cousins of grass are what people up north dream about while shoveling snow from their frigid driveways bereft of life. Embracing palms in the landscape is largely an aesthetic decision that flavors the landscape in a tropical veneer. Although Central Florida is technically in the subtropics and subject to freezes, palms play an important role in landscape design and management. Palms grow more vertically relative to many trees and therefore can be used along tighter areas throughout the landscape and property borders. Due to favorable biomechanics, most are also fairly to highly resistant to hurricane force winds.

Mind the Cold
There are certain limitations to consider when selecting palm trees. The pallet of available palms is wider in Central Florida relative to most of the Southeastern United States – the rest of the Southeast is largely limited to the most cold hardy of palms. However, the palm diversity of mid-Florida is still limited relative to the smorgasbord of available palms in the tropical stronghold of Southern Florida. Of course, there is a biological explanation. Most of the palms that are suited to Central Florida do not have exposed, green crownshafts – this feature is quite noticeable on certain palms that are regularly used in South Florida, like royal palms (Roystonea regia) and foxtail palms (Wodyetia bifurcata). Instead, the buds of the cold-hardy palms are usually enclosed other parts of the crown and supported foliage – consequently, this leads to superior protection from direct cold air exposure.

Mind the Pests
Like most plants, palms are not without their biological vulnerabilities. Important diseases to consider in Central Florida are Lethal Bronzing Disease (LBD), butt rot (Ganoderma), fusarium wilt, bud rot (Phytophthora palmivora) and trunk rot (Thielaviopsis). Additionally, various insects like the palm weevil (Rhynchophorus cruentatus) can impact palm tree health, but overall, insect threats in Central Florida tend to be more aesthetic and a concern for palms already in decline. By and large, the greatest biological threat to palms in Central Florida is from LBD. However, severity of the disease often depends on species and condition of the palm prior to infection. There has been documentation of over 16 species of palms being infected by LBD – however, date palms (i.e., palms within the genus of Phoenix) tend to be particularly susceptible.

Varying Supplies
Unique to this factsheet is the inclusion of information on the availability of outlined palms as plant material. Different species of plants fall in and out of favor for landscaping purposes, but this sheet covers some of the more common palm species that are both suited to Central Florida’s USDA Hardiness Zone of 9B and some context of availability from local nurseries.

Species	Common Name(s)	Image(s)	Height x Width (ft)	Growth Habit	Salt Tolerance	Trade Availability	Native Range	Notes
Acoelorrhaphe wrightii	Paurotis palm, Everglades palm		20 x 20	Clumping	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Low-Moderate Trade Availability	Central America, Caribbean Basin, Colombia, and S Florida	Native
Allagoptera arenaria	Seashore palm		5 x 8	Clumping	High Salt Tolerance	Low-Moderate Trade Availability	Eastern Brazil	Widely cultivated in South America; has edible fruit
× Butiagrus nabonnandii	Mule palm		25 x 20	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	NA	Hybrid between Syagrus romanzoffiana and Butia capitata
Beccariophoenix alfredii	High plateau coconut palm; hardy coconut palm		50 x 25	Single stem	Moderate-High Salt Tolerance	Low (but increasing in popularity) Trade Availability	Madagascar	Relatively new to cultivation in Florida; appearance is close to coconut palm but is more cold tolerant and suitable for Central Florida
Bismarckia nobilis	Bismarck palm		30 x 20	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	Madagascar	Blue leave variety is more common; less wind-tolerant than most palms
Butia capitata	Pindo palm, jelly palm		15 x 12	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	Brazil	Slow growing; has edible fruit; same species as “Butia odorata“
Chamaerops humilis	European fan palm		15 x 20	Clumping	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	Mediterreanean Basin	Very cold hardy; spiny petioles
Copernicia alba	Caranday palm, wax palm		35 x 12	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	South America	Spiny petioles
Livistona australis	Australian cabbage palm		40 x 12	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	Eastern Australia	Spiny petioles
Livistona chinensis	Chinese fan palm		30 x 12	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	SE Asia	Has drooping leaflet tips
Livistona decipiens	Ribbon palm, ribbon fan palm		30 x 12	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	Eastern Australia	Same species as “Livistona decora“
Livistona saribus	Taraw palm		35 x 15	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	SE Asia	Two varieties – green petiole variety is more cold tolerant than the red petiole variety
Phoenix canariensis	Canary Island date palm, pineapple palm		40 x 25	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	Canary Islands	Susceptible to lethal bronzing
Phoenix dactylifera	Date palm		50 x 25	Single stem	High Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	The Middle East	Susceptible to lethal bronzing
Phoenix reclinata	Senegal date palm, wild date palm		45 x 40	Clumping	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	Tropical Africa, Arabain Peninsula, Madagascar, Comoro Islands	Susceptible to lethal bronzing
Phoenix roebelenii	Dwarf date palm, pygmy date palm, miniature date palm		12 x 7	Single stem, but often planted with other stems	Moderate Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	SE Asia	Susceptible to lethal bronzing; may have problems with cold hardiness in Northern Central Florida
Phoenix sylvestris	Silver date palm, Indian date, wild date palm		40 x 25	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	Most of India and adjacent countries	Susceptible to lethal bronzing
Rhapidophyllum hystrix	Needle palm		6 x 6	Clumping	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	Coastal Plain of SE United States	Spines on trunk; does best under shade; extremely cold hardy
Rhapis excelsa	Lady palm		8 x 8	Clumping	Low Salt Tolerance	Moderate Trade Availability	SE China and Vietnam	Prefers shade
Sabal causiarum	Puerto Rico palm, Puerto Rican hat palm		50 x 16	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the British Virgin Islands	Very large trunk; very cold hardy
Sabal minor	Dwarf palmetto		8 x 8	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	Low (specialty, can be found at some native nurseries)	SE United States into Northern Mexico	Rarely grows a trunk – looks for the cultivar ‘Louisiana’ if trunk is desired
Sabal palmetto	Sabal palm, cabbage palm		50 x 10	Single stem	High Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	SE United States	Native; very cold hardy; susceptible to lethal bronzing
Serenoa repens	saw palmetto		6 x 12	Clumping	High Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	Coastal SE of the United States from LA to SC	Native; blue cultivars also available
Syagrus romanzoffiana	queen palm		50 x 18	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	Paraguay, N Argentina, SE Brazil, and N Uruguay	Susceptible to fusarium wilt; less wind resistant than most species
Trachycarpus fortunei	windmill palm		25 x 7	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	SE Asia	Very cold tolerant
Trachycarpus martianus	Khasla Hills palm		25 x 7	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	NE India and Central Nepal	Similar to windmill palm
Washingtonia filifera	California fan palm		50 x 12	Single stem	Low Salt Tolerance	Low Trade Availability	S California and adjacent areas of AZ and NE Mexico	Poorly adapted to humid environments; susceptible to Fusarium wilt
Washingtonia robusta	Mexican fan palm		80 x 10	Single stem	Moderate Salt Tolerance	High Trade Availability	W Mexico	Susceptible to fusarium wilt

Additional Resources:

• 10 Common Palms of the Tampa Bay Area
• IFAS Publications on Palm Diseases
• IFAS Publications on Pest Insects and Mites
• IFAS Publications on Various Palm Species
• Ornamental Palms for Central Florida
• Ornamental Palms for South Florida
• Planting Palms – UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions
• Palms and Cycads – UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions

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