Worlds toughest palm

[Eric in Orlando]

I agree with Sabal minor. Super hardy to cold, grows in sun or shade, dry soil or shallow water and it grows back from fire. Serenoa repens is almost as tolerant except it won't grow in shallow water. It can survive fairly wet soils. But it is super fire resistant.

[Phoenikakias]

This Chamaerops has grown all the way under a ... 'curtain' until it has found itself the way out! Besides two years ago central stem got infested by Paysandisia and died. For me this is what I call tough!

[tjwalters]

Based on the title of this thread, I think the answer has to be Sabal minor. This is the palm that would probably have the best survivability across the widest range of environments on the planet, from cold to hot, sun to shade, wet to dry, and any combination of those. The most challenging locations for this palm would be areas with cool summers or areas with extremely low rainfall, but even those would not likely doom a mature specimen. While Rhapidophyllum hystrix may be able to survive marginally lower temperatures, it seems to have more difficulty with full sun, dry locations, which might eventually kill it. So, my vote goes to S. minor.

[Xerarch]

Too bad the world's toughest palm award can't go to something cooler than Sabal minor, sorry Sabal minor fans. I love them, but I love them the way I love 1 dollar bills, it's not that I don't love them, I just live 100's more lol.

[JakeK]

My vote is Sabal minor. I have lost enough Rhapidophyllum hystrix in my climate to know they are not reliably cold hardy for zone 6; however, Sabal minor is content growing mostly unprotected in my zone 6 climate and also grows just fine in the tropics too. Aside from cold hardiness, they can grow in wet or dry soils, full shade or blazing sun. I don't think there is another palm capable of growing in such a variety of conditions.

[Phoenikakias]

Sabal minor shows occasionally (some varieties maybe?) also nutritional deficiencies, Chamaerops (in my climate) never. Besides Chamaerops has an advantage, the suckering habit, which can compesate many human mistakes, bugs, misfortunes, natural elements.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

It is Sabal palmetto. You guys are fixated on cold hardiness. Well, that is not the definition of "tough" in my book. It is only slightly less cold tolerant than minor yet is more prolific and wide ranging. It is because it can handle so many environments that it is widespread.

It is the definition of a tough palm.

In Salty environments.

under water

burned

survives car crash

easy to transplant and survives abuse

[rick]

What about the Judean Date Palm. A seed that can remain viable after 2000 years has to be a tough palm.

In terms of overall toughness, I have to agree with Jerry, its hard to beat a Sabal palmetto.

[Jonathan]

I'll know at the end of summer how tough S. minor and palmetto are down here at Slow Death by Dry Sand Flats.

I've planted a bunch of each in full sun and dry sand way down the bottom of my block (5 acres away from the house) in a big hole that gets hot as hell in summer and direct frost in winter.

Because they are so far out of mind they very rarely get watered, but if they can hold on and send their roots down 3 or 4 feet they will reach the water table and hopefully thrive.

In the same area I've also planted S. yapa, bermudana, mexicana, Serenoa, Acoelarraphe and a few of different Braheas.

Just out of interest, I planted all these species last autumn and they sailed through winter unharmed, despite the frosts (even the yapa's - though they had some protection).

What interested me the most was that the palmetto's pushed out new leaves through winter, I'd always heard that they needed heat to grow...obviously not always?

My canditate for toughest bastard palm in my dry, sandy, frosty, windy, cold, hot, psycho climate is Livistona decora, which just seems impossible to kill, though the cold here is not enough to test it thoroughly.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Sabal Steve]

It is Sabal palmetto. You guys are fixated on cold hardiness. Well, that is not the definition of "tough" in my book. It is only slightly less cold tolerant than minor yet is more prolific and wide ranging. It is because it can handle so many environments that it is widespread.

It is the definition of a tough palm.

In Salty environments.

under water

burned

survives car crash

easy to transplant and survives abuse

Now we're getting somewhere... I agree, there's more to toughness than strictly cold hardiness.

[yachtingone]

Tough palm can be measured many ways! How many palms can survive being transplanted naturally?

Brahea armata is quite cold and heat & drought hardy. They only don't like too much water!

The pic was taken in Mexico. There are a few transplanted B. armatas in the area!

[Alicehunter2000]

Well that is a cool picture

Jonathan, good to know about L. decora, since I planted three big ones this past year. They are about to get blasted by 22 F. and 25 mph winds which will drop the wind chill down into the low teens.....Check out the Freeze Data in the next few months for data.

[Jonathan]

22F with wind chill should be a fair test for them David, I never get anywhere near that cold thankfully.

Good luck with it, I'm putting money on survival with minimal damage!

Cheers,

Jonathan

[LJG]

I know some said CIDP but I can't call it tough. Too many dam things like to kill it. Fusarium, crown rot and beetles. I think pest and disease resistance needs to be put into account.

[Explorer]

Here in N.W. Europe after Trachycarpus fortunei the second one would be Chamaerops humilis. It can get defoliated in a cold winter, but on a hot sunny spot in the garden it grows quickly back from the roots. Well thats my personel experience with it.

Alexander

[Moose]

This thread had moved toward a "cold hardy" characteristic being the main focus of "toughness". I agree that Sabal minor is a very tough palm. With the majority of them maintaining subterranean trunks, that would make sense. How well do they transplant?

I'll throw another disregarded characteristic that none have touched on. How does your choice stand up to hurricane force winds?

My choice for toughest palm would be any species that BS Man about Palms has had in his container ranch for more than 4 years.

[Walter John]

I guess Trachycarpus fortunei. They get them even in Norway. And the best growing and performing palm in the chilly Netherlands!

Alexander

agree.

[Eric in Orlando]

How salt tolerant are Sabal minor ? I don't think I have ever seen anything about their salt tolerance.

[sonoranfans]

when I lived in the Arizona desert, I found sabal minor to be poorly adapted. It couldn't take the intense sun and low humidity, even with only 3 hrs sun a day. If one includes habitat adaptation sabal minor is not all that tough. Of sabals, I found uresana was better adapted to the desert as one might expect as it is from sonora. Between hot dry Arizona and florida washingtonia robusta or a filibusta hybrid is the toughest palm I have seen. I once had a volunteer seedling in Arizona(almost nothing volunteers there)that I tried to kill by cutting it off at ground level, it just came back one, two, three times. Finally I just ripped it out. Im pretty sure I could have replanted that palm and it would have taken off. try that with your sabal, ripping(not digging) it out of the ground after lopping it at ground level 3x. Robustas are also known to grow on the beach in California, so they are salt tolerant as well. toughness is about withstanding abuse IMO and that means all kinds of abuse, not just cold hardiness... W Robusta takes 115F desert heat and sun, salt, humid florida weather, cold to 18F, and almost cant be killed by physical abuse. that is a tough palm.

[Phoenikakias]

I tend to agree with Tom about the robusta. I pull out eophylles of recently sprouted seedlings and if roots remain inside the ground they push again and again a new strap leaf. It is not as cold hardy as filifera but certainly considerably moist-hardier. If we put to the equation also filibusta, then things become overwhelming in favor of Washi. But this would mean cheating, we are searching for palm spss not for a 'Frankenstein' palm

[Sabal Steve]

I agree, when looking at Washintonias along those lines, they are pretty bulletproof. There's may be some solid stats out there regarding hardiness, but if I had to venture a guess, I would say that only 5-10% of the palms out there are hardier to cold.

[_Keith]

I tend to agree with Tom about the robusta. I pull out eophylles of recently sprouted seedlings and if roots remain inside the ground they push again and again a new strap leaf. It is not as cold hardy as filifera but certainly considerably moist-hardier. If we put to the equation also filibusta, then things become overwhelming in favor of Washi. But this would mean cheating, we are searching for palm spss not for a 'Frankenstein' palm

And the filibusta might give you the best of both worlds. Mine certainly do.

[Sabal Steve]

Also, in my opinion, Washingtonia robusta ages nicer than many other palms, especially when maintained - as opposed to many Queens and Pindos for example.

[Sutter Bob]

Washingtonia rule around here. You can find a seedling under half of the phone poles in these parts.

[RyManUtah]

I have an affinity for downtime-browsing old forum posts, (that’s how we learn, right), but decided to leave my $.02 on this one:

I agree with the previous posters that “tough” is relative. Taking into account all things in a specific area, not just cold hardiness. Cold hardiness in my area would hands down be Trachycarpus fortunei.

However, I think the glory of toughest local palm would be a tie between Washingtonia filifera and Chaemerops humilis;

reason being: they handle the same temperatures as the Trachycarpus, just fine. They do not however need supplemental water, once establish, or sun burn. They also are stiff as a board during dust storms. 

These palms would however be very weak in wet, humid areas such as south Florida. 

[Nj Palms]

Sabal minor. They can take cold, standing water, drought, and extreme heat. 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

My .02 is Washingtonia for sure, i don't really believe there is a climate they couldn't manage to grow in. They also volunteer like no other palm can, basically giant weeds. Speed of growth is unrivaled 

[James B]

On 1/1/2014 at 9:32 AM, Gtlevine said:

Phoenix canariensis.

I saw a car hit one at fifty miles per hour and it was barely scratched. Thats a tough palm.

Haha hahahahahahaha!

[James B]

2 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

My .02 is Washingtonia for sure, i don't really believe there is a climate they couldn't manage to grow in. They also volunteer like no other palm can, basically giant weeds. Speed of growth is unrivaled 

Yup ugliest and toughest palm in California for sure. Things are a royal pain in my yard. Birds drop seeds and a month later they are 3 feet tall 

[Jeff985]

5 hours ago, James B said:

Yup ugliest and toughest palm in California for sure. Things are a royal pain in my yard. Birds drop seeds and a month later they are 3 feet tall 

Same here. They’re everywhere. They’re even growing in the cracks in sidewalks. 

[wimmie]

Here in Holland with it's wet winters, Trachycarpus fortunei and wagnerianus do great, as long as you start with young plants. Only then they will develope a very fat trunk.

[Merlyn]

Sabal seedlings around here survive repeated bush-hog butcherings and sprout right back, so that's hardly a unique characteristic of Washingtonia.  With all the Washie love, one thing ignored is their extreme susceptibility to Fusarium.  I've seen rows of Washingtonia Robusta die one-by-one as Fusarium got into one palm and then quickly killed an entire road full of palms.  In the Orlando area people are replacing Washies with Livistona because of Fusarium deaths.  To me that disqualifies that as the "World's Toughest Palm."  

[NOT A TA]

Here Sabal palmetto is the toughest IMO. I've watched them get beheaded by the giant mowers that keep the canals from being overgrown and see them sprout back year after year like they're waiting for an opportunity of a break in the mowing cycle to get a chance to trunk. They'll take Round Up plant killer with just some leaf damage. They'll grow happily on the edge of bodies of water living in swamps most would consider flood conditions. They can also take long extended periods of drought without noticeable damage. Ive seen everything around them burned by fire while they're barely affected. I've seen electrical transformers explode dropping chemicals on fire over them and they pop right back. Cars smash into them, all the fronds trimmed off, and other mechanical damage. The only thing they don't take very well is transplanting as a juvenile. They're a serious weed problem here costing millions as government agencies and utilities have to constantly remove them. I must have pulled 200-300 seedlings that came up just in the past month while weeding at my school entrance project yesterday and there isn't a palmetto within 30 feet of the planter I was weeding. To say they're prolific would be an understatement.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

2 hours ago, NOT A TA said:

Here Sabal palmetto is the toughest IMO.

I absolutely believe S.Palmetto is tough and love them to death for being able to withstand just about everything, like you said. Coming from So.Cal where washingtonia literally grow in cracks everywhere there and then moving to Texas and seeing the same exact thing. Two totally different environments plus we know they grow like weeds just about everywhere else. I cant even remember seeing any Palmettos in Cali =/ 

[sonoranfans]

Sabal minor cannot take the desert, its possibly its only weakness but it is not resistant to the dry hot.  I would also add that sabal palmetto struggles in the desert heat as well.  That is why Washingtonia Robusta gets my vote, it can be grownin almost any subtropical climate and its good to 18F.  IF cold tolerance is your dominating criterion, I can see picking sabal minor.  But 115F and 10% humidity plus arizona sun will make short work of that sabal minor.   By contrast, washie robusta laughs it off and takes a 9a winter like it was nothing.  I had better luck with sabal riverside and uresana in arizona, they took the sun and heat and just grew.  both uresana and riverside were bluish tinted sabals, lots of wax for sun protection.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, sonoranfans said:

Sabal minor cannot take the desert, its possibly its only weakness but it is not resistant to the dry hot.  I would also add that sabal palmetto struggles in the desert heat as well.  That is why Washingtonia Robusta gets my vote, it can be grownin almost any subtropical climate and its good to 18F.  IF cold tolerance is your dominating criterion, I can see picking sabal minor.  But 115F and 10% humidity plus arizona sun will make short work of that sabal minor.   By contrast, washie robusta laughs it off and takes a 9a winter like it was nothing.

Unless these are something like S. Mexicana, On the fence on this one.. Have seen some decent  -for the desert-  looking S. palmetto around town.. Examples in the pics below don't look like they're struggling, imo.  To be sure, i'd like to see more documentation of how specimens that were essentially started from seed, in the ground, developed ( or succumbed to the elements over time ) here.. 

Dobson Ranch area. Shown this one before. Up and coming sibling on the right.


Glendale Public Library, Xeric Demo Garden.



That said, Sabal minor might be an entirely different story, and not able to handle AZ's torture level heat /drier air.. That could be a subjective observation though since its just as possible that it hasn't been grown much to really test for hardiness under our conditions. Would bet they'd survive fine if provided afternoon shade. I myself would plant Silver Saws over S. minor though.

To be honest, can't think of any palm you could plant as a 1 gal out in the open desert, in full sun.. walk away from and expect to see grow to maturity without any extra water from the moment it is planted.  Even both Washingtonia sp. hang out where there is access to some source of year round water. With that, i'd give an edge to both Sabal palmetto and minor since both seem to tolerate a wider range of weather/ soil conditions both in nature, and in the garden.  Just my 2 and 1/4th cents..

Edited January 3, 2020 by Silas_Sancona

[sonoranfans]

I have sun burned and roasted many palms in the arizona desert over the ten years I was there.  I am not talking about shaded areas of mature plantings, but a new 3/4 acre lot.  Im sure we can agree that W Filifera can and does survive long term -once established- without irrigation.  Maybe phoenix dactylifera also can also survive without irrigation.  After that nothing does, but add a little drip irrigation water and some palms do quite well and can take the sun.  I grew sabal bermudana, sabal minor, sabal "blackburniana", sabal uresana, sabal riverside.  Of these, only the last two didn't get obvious drought stress in the hottest part of the year just before monsoon season.  As some point the heat takes the water faster than the roots can replace it and if the sabal doesnt have waxy, reflective leaves its getting hammered with sunlight which accelerates water loss by transpiration.    Now in florida, I see how sabal minor and palmetto are very tough, but I wouldn't plan on putting them in direct, late day sun in arizona.   Washie robusta seems almost bulletproof.  I don't care for them and dont grow any in my yard, but I cannot deny their adaptability.  They are palms for those with brown thumbs out in the desert or in subtropical central florida.