SCIENTIFIC NAME: Latania lontaroides

COMMON NAME(S): Red latan palm
SUB FAMILY: Coryphoideae
TRIBE: Borasseae
ORIGIN: Reunion Island (Mascarenes)
HARDINESS ZONES: 10B-11 (no problem at 36 degrees F), (thought to be hardy to 26 degrees F)
TYPICAL MAXIMUM HEIGHT: 30'
GROWTH RATE: Slow
HABIT: Solitary; canopy of 12-24 leaves
SALT TOLERANCE: Moderate
DROUGHT TOLERANCE: High
SOIL REQUIREMENTS: Widely adaptable
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: High
NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS: Moderate
POPULAR USES: Specimen tree
HUMAN HAZARDS: None
POPULAR OR RECOMMENDED CULTIVARS: None

COMMENTS: The red latan eventually loses most of the red foliar highlights that make it such a distinctive young specimen. It can be distinguished from the blue latan by its pointed and upraised hastula on the upper leaf surface, less waxy scurf on the leaf underside and wide leaf scars on a gray trunk. The seed lacks the attractive sculpturing found on that of the blue latan palm. Any toothing that occurs on the leaf segment margins or petiole usually disappears as the palm ages. Culture is the same as for the blue latan. Other species: The yellow latan (L. verschaffeltii), from Rodriguez Island, has yellow to yellow-orange petioles and leaf veins. The hastula is small, blunt and flat. The trunk only rarely bulges around the leaf scars. The dark seeds are three-lobed and have a conspicuous ridge running down the middle. Hybrids are known between it and the red latan.