Latania verschaffeltii

Latania verschaffeltii, the yellow latan palm, grows wild only on Rodrigues, a small island of the Mascarenes, where it is now Critically Endangered, with just a few hundred trees left. Its large costapalmate leaves are green rather than waxy blue, and in young plants the leaf stalks, margins and veins glow deep yellow to orange.

That colour makes it the easiest latan palm to recognise as a youngster. Growers may also know it as Latania aurea.

At a glance

• Native range: Rodrigues (Mauritius)
• Mature size: to about 12 m
• Growth rate: slow, faster in warm tropical conditions
• Light: full sun from a young age; tolerates half-day sun
• Water: regular, with sharp drainage; mature trees endure long dry periods
• Cold hardiness: about −1 °C, with very brief dips to −2 °C survived
• Indoors / outdoors: outdoors in frost-free or the mildest sheltered gardens

Care

Plant in fertile, sandy, sharply drained soil and water regularly, never letting it stand in waterlogged ground. Use a complete fertiliser with trace elements and plenty of magnesium, as deficient leaves turn an unhealthy yellow. The roots are sensitive, so plant out from the pot young rather than moving a large specimen. It prefers a site a little away from the coast.

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