Palm Trees at University of Santo Tomas Botanical Garden

Palm Trees at UST Botanical Garden
Dr Romulado M Del Rosario and Dr Abe V Rotor

Former UST faculty-in-charge and supervisor, and faculty member, respectively

There are 181 genera of palms with around 2,600 known species growing mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Palms have large, compound, and evergreen leaves (fronds), arranged like crown atop their unbranched trunks.

LICUALA (lik-oo-AH-lah). 

This is the Latinized form of the native Moluccan name for this plant.
Botanical name: Licuala grandis H. Wendl.
Common name: Ruffled Fan Palm
Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
Origin: New Guinea

Features: L. grandis (GRAN-dis) is a small attractive slow-growing palm to 3 m tall with slim solitary trunk, topped by individual bright green almost circular fronds, toothed along the margin. The petiole is rather long and thorny. The specific epithet grandis means large and thorny.

LIVISTONA (li-vi-STON-a ). 

The genus name is in honor of Patrick Murray, Baron of Livingston.

Botanical name: Livistona chinensis (Jacq.) R. Br. ex Mart.
Common names: Chinese Fan Palm
Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
Origin: Southern Japan, southern Taiwan.

Features: L chinensis (chin-EN-sis) is a common fan palm species to 4 m tall with somewhat rough and chunky trunk. The species is grown for their 60 cm. wide and 60 cm long, glossy green fan-shaped leaves that are deeply cut into many drooping fragments. In the wild, the species develop into tall trees. The lower part of the leafstalk is armed with hard brown spines. The fruits produced in large numbers are blue. The epithet chinensis denotes that the species is from China, which is not correct, because it is actually native to Japan's Rhukyu Islands and Volcano Islands.

NEODYPSIS (nee-yo-DEEP-sis)

Botanical name: Neodypsis decaryi Jumelle
Common names: Triangular Palm; 

False Blue Palm
Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
Origin: Madagascar
Features. M decaryi ( de-KAHR-ee-eye) is a well- proportioned ornamental palm, easily distinguished by bulging leaf or frond bases that grow to form a distinct 3-sided triangle shape that has & striking blue-gray color (hence its name -Triangular Palm). The leaves (fronds) are tall, feather-shaped, up to 4 m long. The leaflets are stiff, sharp-pointed, arranged in V-shaped along the rachis. The inflorescence appears among the lower leaves. The male and female flowers are pale yellow green in separate clusters on the same branch.. The epithet decaryi is named for Raymond Decary, 20th century plant collector.

PHOENIX (FEE—niks Date Palm
From the Greek name of the date palm from Phoenicia. 

The Phoenicians introduced the date to the Greeks.
Botanical name: Phoenix dactylifera L.
Common name: Date Palm
Family: Arecaceae (palm family


RAPHIS (RA-pis), Raphis is derived from the Greek, rhapis, a needle referring to the slender leaf segments.

Botanical name: Raphis excelsa (Thumb.) A. Henry
Common names: LADY PALM, RAPIS
Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
Origin: Southern China



 
PTYCHOSPERMA (tik-oh-SPER-muh). From the Greek ptyche (fold) 

and sperma (seed).

Botanical name: Ptychosperma macarthurii (H. Wendl.) Nichols
Common name: McArthur palm
Family: Arecaceae
Origin: Northeastern Australia and New Guinea
Features: P. macarthurii (mak-ar-TUR-raay) is a popular multi-trunked palm in the tropics. The leaves are pinnate in dense cluster, dark green and measure about 1-1.75 m long. The fruits are bright red, 2.5

ROYSTONEA (roi-STON-ee). The genus name Roystonea commemorates General Roy Stone, an American engineer who worked in Puerto Rico in the 1900s.
Botanical name: Roystonea regia (HBK) O. F. Cook.
Common names: Royal Palm; Cuban Royal Palm - Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
Origin: Cuba, Honduras
Features: R. regia (REE-gee-a) is a quick growing solitary palm palm used in avenue plantings. It grows up to 20 meters high with a very solid trunk. The feather fronds are large growing from the top of a smooth bright green crownshaft. The symmetrical trunk is fairly smooth, whitish and somewhat swollen at the base and the top, a most unusual feature in palms. Small three-petaled cup-shaped flowers bloom just below the crown anytime of the year. The words that describe this palm are: stately, formal, elegant and regal (royal or kingly)

SABAL (SAY-bal). This is probably a Native American name or may have derived from the Latin for palmetto. No one knows for sure the origin of the name Sabal.
Botanical name: Sabal palmetto (Walter) Lodd ex Schultes
Common name: Sabal palm, cabbage palmetto
Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
Origin: Native to SE United States, also to Cuba and Bahamas.
Features: S. palmetto (pahl-MET-oh) is a large robust solitary fan-leaved with a single unbranched trunk. It grows to 25 m tall in its habitat but smaller in cultivation. Its outstanding characteristic is the twisting of the large fan leaves on their sturdy stems. The leaves are split on the tips and old leaf bases are persistent on the often broad bases. Properties: Saw palmetto is an herbal medicine used to treat an enlarged prostate gland in men. It may also be used to treat prostate cancer and acne.

VEITCHA ( VEET-chee-eye). The name commemorates James Veitch, an English nurseryman.
Botanical name: Veitchia merrillii (Becc.) H. E. Moore
Synonym: Adonidia merrillii Becc.
Common names: Manila Palm; Bunga de China; Bunga de Jolo
Family: Arecaceae (palm family)
: Origin Endemic to the Philippines..
Features: V. merrillii (mer-IL-ee-eye) is an attractive, slender-trunked, palm with a broad crown of stiff feathery leaves. It grows 20-25 feet tall. The bright red fruits, borne in clusters are highly ornamental. The species was named in honor of Dr. E. D. Merrill, an American botanist famous for his studies of Philippine plants. 

Other palm trees at UST:

Coconut - Cocos nucifera

African Oil Palm - Elaeis guineensis

Betel Nut Palm - Areca catechu PHOTO