SCIENTIFIC NAME: Coccothrinax argentata

COMMON NAME(S): Silver palm
SUB FAMILY: Coryphoideae
TRIBE: Corypheae
ORIGIN: Florida and the Bahamas
HARDINESS ZONES: 10B-11 (damaged but recovered at 32 degrees F)
TYPICAL MAXIMUM HEIGHT: 15' (but frequently smaller)
GROWTH RATE: Slow
HABIT: Solitary; canopy of 12-16 leaves
SALT TOLERANCE: High
DROUGHT TOLERANCE: High
SOIL REQUIREMENTS: Widely adaptable
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Moderate; high
NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS: Low
POPULAR USES: Small specimen tree; seaside locations
HUMAN HAZARDS: None
POPULAR OR RECOMMENDED CULTIVARS: None

COMMENTS: Florida's native silver palm can sometimes be found growing with its roots wedged within cracks on limestone outcrops, its trunk blackened by pineland fires. As this suggests, it is an extremely tough and durable palm, with an intensely silver underside to the leaves that seems to glint in the sun. Other species: C. argentea. This species, native to Hispaniola, is larger in all respects than C. argentata, with more rigid leaves that are less silvery on the underside.