Daniel Beltrán, gardener at Club de Golf Alcanada, talks to us of the “Chamaerops humilis”, more commonly known as palmetto, European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm, in the palm family Arecaceae. It is the only species of native palm of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
Daniel said: « It is a shrub-like clumping palm, with several stems growing from a single base, which reaches a height of 3-4 metres. Its leaves are green and large, fan-shaped or palm-shaped.
« We have many specimens distributed throughout the course and the clubhouse, but if you have to highlight a group, it is located near the tees of hole 1. Some of these wonderful specimens exceed 3 metres in height.”
CURIOSITIES
In the botanical garden of Padua (Veneto, Italy) lives a specimen dating from 1585, called « LA PALMA DI GOETHE » and its stems currently exceed 10 metres.
The leaves of the adult plants have been used to make brooms, weaving mats, carrier baskets, and similar articles.
Its fruit has a high content of butyric acid with nutritional properties and is used as an antidiarrheal and astringent.
