Copernicia gigas

Copernicia gigas is a massive Cuban fan palm: a single grey column up to about 20 m tall and half a metre thick, topped by a dense head of large, stiff, wedge-shaped leaves on spiny stalks. It grows wild only in the lowlands of central and eastern Cuba, often on seasonally wet savannas.

It is the only large Cuban Copernicia with wedge-shaped rather than rounded leaves, which makes it easy to recognise. A slow, monumental palm for collectors with room to spare.

At a glance

• Native range: central and eastern Cuba
• Mature size: 15–20 m; the crown can spread about 6 m before a trunk forms
• Growth rate: slow
• Light: full sun in an open position
• Water: grows on heavy, seasonally waterlogged clays in the wild
• Cold hardiness: brief drops to about 0 °C
• Indoors / outdoors: an outdoor palm for warm climates with plenty of space

Care

Plant in full sun with a great deal of room around it. Be patient: a Florida plant had still not formed a visible trunk after 13 years. The leaf stalks are spiny, so allow space around paths.

Why Palmpedia: Raised in our Almeirim greenhouse in Portugal and supplied in 15 L to 35 L pots.