Pseudophoenix sargentii - Buccaneer Palm

Pseudophoenix sargentii, also known as the Florida Cherry Palm or Buccaneer Palm, deserves to be discovered for its great ornamental value, but it remains rare in cultivation due to its slow growth, which can discourage exotic plant enthusiasts. It has a moderate development, an elegant, highly architectural habit, bearing large, dark green, pinnate and arching leaves with a beautiful silver underside, and decorative bright red fruits on mature plants. Its true beauty, rarity, but also its rather accommodating nature, could make us forget that it has retained from its tropical origins a cold-sensitive disposition. Planted in a carefully chosen, large container, it will bring a magnificent exotic touch to a conservatory or winter garden.

Pseudophoenix sargentii belongs to the large family of Arecaceae. It is native to the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. It is also found in Florida, Haiti, southeastern Mexico, and Puerto Rico. It is a coastal species associated with dry forests and scrublands, adapted to sandy and limestone soils as well as seasonal drought. In difficult conditions, this palm grows very slowly, so that some adult specimens have a false trunk less than 50 cm (20in) tall. When it encounters favourable growing conditions, in the open ground, this Pseudophoenix reaches about 8 m (26ft) in height. In a pot, it will reach about 2 m (7ft) in height after many years. Its cold resistance is limited, the plant dies back below -1 or -2 °C (30.2 or 28.4°F).

Its trunk, called a stipe, is solitary, relatively thin, slightly swollen, light grey, strongly ringed, and covered with a beautiful waxy patina in its youngest part, on which prominent, brown leaf scars are visible. At the top of this stipe, a crown of pinnate, arching leaves develops, carried by a petiole from 30 cm (12in) to 1 m (3ft) long. Each leaf measures 1.20 m (4ft) to 2.30 m (7ft) in length and has lanceolate leaflets from 30 to 50 cm (12 to 20in) long, irregularly arranged along the midrib, with brown scales.

Flowering takes place in summer. The inflorescences appear on mature subjects, arising between the leaves. They are branched panicles with tiny greenish-yellow flowers. After pollination, globose fruits measuring 1.2 to 1.7 cm (1in) in diameter are formed. They turn bright red at maturity and contain one to three seeds.

The Sargent Palm is a magnificent plant for a temperate greenhouse or conservatory, within reach of every attentive... and patient gardener. Outside of the mildest areas that are generally spared by frosts, it is best cultivated in a container and placed in a conservatory or in a very bright room with some direct sunlight. Grow it alongside dwarf banana trees (Musella lasiocarpa) or other indoor palms like Arecas and Kentias.