PlantFiles: Imperial Palm
Roystonea oleracea

THis is one of the most beautiful and tallest of all the royals, but not one we can easily grow here in So Cal... too tropical. Some in perfect microclimates are able to grow it, but I have yet to see any mature palms of this species here. It is easily distingued from the other Royals in that all the leaves are held way above the crownshaft, while the more commonly grown Royals here in the states (eg. Roystenea regia) have leaves that hang down below the crownshaft. There are a number of these in Miami, but not too many tall ones. It's not the wind that knocks them down, though, but the lightning.

This is a magnificent, massive palm, reaching up to 30m tall! The trunk looks like a concrete pillar, and it´s so tall that the large pinate leaves gives only little shade.

It was first introduced in Brazil by the king of Portugal, John VI, in 1808, and this same palm lived until 1976 (I think), when it got hit by lightning. Back in the imperial times, the afriucan slaves used to steal the seeds from the first palm at night and sell them to buy their freedom. That way, most of the Imperial Palms today in Brazil might be descendants from that first one.

It´s an impressive tree that will behave well in small beds, great for landscaping projects and urban arborization in general (only demanding some care about the huge leaves that may fall one time or another). It likes fertile, well drained soil, moderate to high temperatures, regular watering, and full sun. Despite its size, it is extremely resistant to winds (won´t resist tropical storms, hurricanes, and such, or course. Might be hard to keep alive in Miami, for example)