Palms   Coccothrinax fagildei

Common Names: Fagilde's Palm Conservation Status: Unknown Distribution & Habitat: C. fagildei is endemic to a few cliffs facing the sea by Santiago de Cuba. It grows on dogtooth limestone cliffs which are virtually soilless. To be precise it grows among fallen blocks. The xeric environment with agaves and plumerias has a high species diversity and hosts quite a few endemic species and the Fagilde's palm is one of them. What is low there is the biomass, in the sense of quantity of vegetation. It is fully tropical with no cold spells and there are 30m tall mamoncillo trees 1 km away by the river, where soil and water are abundant. The average annual temperature is 28C and yearly rainfall is 700 mm. Description: Coccothrinax fagildei is the suckering Coccothrinax par excellence. I counted 20-50 heads on most adult individuals. Its way of suckering is roughly comparable to Acoelorraphe but stems are quite thinner. General: C.fagildei is a strong easy grower, but slow. Three years old seedlings are now unfolding their first palmate leaves in 22 cm pots. Culture: Would prefer very well drained limestone based soils. Drought tolerant, but would probably require tropical temperatures.	Figure 1. C. fagildei in habitat, Cuba.
Figure 2. C. fagildei

Contributed by:

Carlo Morici (Text and Figure 1&2)

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