Medemia argun

Medemia argun, the argun or Nubian desert palm, is the only member of its genus. It survives in a handful of oases and dry valleys of the Nubian Desert in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, wherever its roots reach groundwater, and is listed as Vulnerable.

Its stiff, pale bluish-green fans sit on bright yellow, spiny stalks, and dead leaves hang below the crown as a skirt. Its fruits were known from ancient Egyptian tombs before living trees were found, and it had never been cultivated until seed was brought out of Sudan after its rediscovery in 1995.

At a glance

• Native range: southern Egypt and northern Sudan
• Mature size: 10–16 m
• Growth rate: very slow to fairly fast, depending mainly on heat and dryness
• Light: full sun
• Water: little once established; extremely drought tolerant
• Indoors / outdoors: outdoors in hot, dry climates; under glass elsewhere

Care

The keys are heat, sun, very sharp drainage and restraint with water. Grow it in dry, sandy, free-draining soil. The seedling root plunges deep at once, so it needs a deep pot or open ground. Winter wet is the main cause of losses in cooler climates.

Why Palmpedia: Every plant is grown in our greenhouse in Almeirim, Portugal, and leaves us in a 15 L to 35 L pot.