Trachycarpus fortunei 'Wagnerianus'

Trachycarpus fortunei 'Wagnerianus' is the compact, stiff-leaved Japanese form of the Chinese windmill palm. The species comes from the mountains of south-central China and northern Myanmar and is almost certainly the most widely grown cold-hardy palm in the world.

It carries a rounded crown of stiff, deeply cut fans above a slender trunk swathed in coarse brown fibre. The notes below describe Trachycarpus fortunei.

Formerly known as Trachycarpus wagnerianus.

At a glance

• Native range: south-central China and northern Myanmar
• Mature size: species usually 6–12 m; typically 3–6 m in cultivation
• Growth rate: slow to moderate, faster with water and feeding
• Light: full sun to part shade
• Water: evenly moist but well-drained soil
• Cold hardiness: about −15 °C for established plants
• Indoors / outdoors: outdoors in cool and frosty climates; also long-lived in large containers

Care

Give it fertile, well-drained soil and shelter from strong wind, which shreds the leaves. It does not sucker, and both male and female plants are needed for seed. In southern Europe, watch for the palm moth Paysandisia archon.

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