This palm has a solitary greyish trunk that is closely ringed and capped with a rounded crown of bluish-green fan-like fronds with stiff spiny stalks. It has small yellow bell-shaped flowers that appear in a long pendulous cluster during summer.
Brahea armata S. Wats. is naturally found from Baja California to north-western Mexico growing in subtropical regions on arid rocky hillsides or cliffs and in desert canyons, from sea level to an altitude of 1,000 m (3,280 ft) or more. It prefers a poor well drained but moist sandy-rocky calcareous base soil that is tending alkaline with a pH range from 6.5 to 8.0 but is adaptable. It grows in an open to expose hot sunny to semi-shaded position and is drought, saline soil and frost tolerant.
The Blue Hesper Palm is a stately palm that is grown foliage colour. It is grown in parks and large gardens as a specimen or used in avenue plantings and can be used as a windbreak. It is also grown in arid gardens tolerating hot dry conditions or used around a large water feature for a tropical effect. When young it can be grown in pots or tubs as an indoor or glasshouse specimen in cooler regions. It is slow growing and establishes in 4 to 8 years requiring poorer soils with low rainfall as rich soil tends to slow growth. It has a low water requirement once established (Scale: 1-drop from 3) but prefers a position with reliable soil moisture during summer.
I.D. 1023
UK hardiness zone H4
Climate zones H1, 10, 12-24
USDA Zone 9-11
Brahea (bra-HEE-ah) armata (arm-AH-tuh)
Etymology
Genus: - Brahea – named after Tycho Brahe who was a 16th century Danish astronomer,
Species: Latin - armata - meaning (armed) referring to the petioles having spines
Baja California, North-western Mexico
Arecaceae (ar-ek-AY-see-ee)
(Palmae)
Palm Family
This family consists predominantly of tropical monocotyledons that form climbing and tree like habits with divided pinnate leaves and axillary inflorescence that produce ample indehiscent fruit.
Distribution
These plants are mainly distributed in tropical and warm temperate areas of the world from Central and South America to the Malay Peninsula and Africa in environments with poor drainage or permanent water such as mangrove swamps and low land rainforest. A small number of species are found in temperate regions.
Diagnostic Features
Palms are long lived and form solitary or multiple trunks that are rarely branched and can form a clump of, rarely with underground stems. They have a single apical bud and if it is killed by frost or mechanical damage the stem dies.
The leaves (fronds) of adult plants appear in regular numbers per stem at the apex with their tubular leaf bases clasping around the stem. These forms a pseudo-stem (crown-shaft) as in Arecoid palms or the dead leaf bases form a parchment-like weaved mat and may split below the petiole. The distinctive petiole is armed or unarmed with spines or teeth and leaf scars or leaf bases may be persistent on the trunk. They vary in size from 150 mm (6 in) to 25 m (82 ft) in length.
The leaf blade is plicate from bud and is normally simple and adult fronds are palmately, pinnate and occasionally bipinnate with pinnate ribs. Caryota spp. is palmately lobed simple with ribs and appears compound with the petiole acting as the rachis (Costapalmate). All have ligula terminating the petiole and have leaflets that fold upwards then down wards to the petiole or rachis and have one to several parallel nerved veins joined by transverse veinlets.
The inflorescence is simple or branched into a huge panicle and normally arises from the leaf bases and forms with a protective overlapping woody bracts that remains until the flowers developed.
The numerous small flowers occur individually or 2 - 3 together in a cluster and are monoecious or dioecious with the perianth segments in 2 whorls. The female flowers are generally 3 merious with 3 somewhat imbricate sepals and petals and have 3 stamens.. Male flowers sometimes have 4 petals and sepals. The flowers of pollinated by wind, ants, bees, beetles and flies.
There are three or more stamens and sometimes are adnate to the perianth or have the filaments joined into a tube or disk.
The gynoecium normally three-carpelled and may be fused or unfused. The ovary is superior with 3 carpels that have a single ovule and in many species only one ovule per flower that matures into one seed. The styles are rarely elongated and normally the arrangement is a three lobed fleshy stigma that is sessile on the ovary.
The fruit normally contains a single seed and it is a drupe or berry with a woody or fibrous surface that is smooth, prickly or hairy mesocarp is fleshy or dry and rarely produced 2 - 10 seeds.
The indehiscent seeds are commonly brightly coloured and have endosperm that is oily or fatty and a hard coated.
Note:
The palms have many uses from making spears to the fruit and leaf bases being eaten. There are of great horticulture importance and are used in many gardens.
This plant tolerates between USDA zones 9a to 11a and grows to 15 m (50 ft)
Fahrenheit 20º to 45º F
These temperatures represent the lowest average.
Celsius -6.6º to 7.2º C
Attention
This plant was last revised on the 17/03/2019
The information displayed on this plant is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also make observations of the plant that we photograph, and all care is taken to ensure the details are correct.
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