Palms In Portugal
Martin Salisbury combines business with pleasure
and puts Portugal clearly on the palm enthusiasts map.
Martin Salisbury, 114 Argyle St., Cambridge, CB1 2EE
Chamaerops No. 3, published online 23-11-2002
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Washing & Shaving? Tall Washingtonia and the
Shaving Brush Palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) in silhouette.
Over the last 10 years or so it has been my good
fortune to make frequent visits to northern Portugal for reasons
of both business and pleasure. Most of these trips have been to
Oporto, but more recently I have made several stays in Lisbon, which
I have discovered to be a city of Palms.
The main boulevard of the city - Avenida de Liberdada
- is lined with a variety of species of palm, dominated by the usual
Phoenix canariensis, superb, mature specimens, along with P. reclinata,
Chamaerops humilis, Washingtonias, and, on many street corners,
maturing Howea forsterianas up to 3 or 4m. The presence of these
latter palms surprised me, as the January daytime maximum temperatures
(according to my newspaper) tend to be no more than 5¾ to 7.5¾C.
Also, dotted about the city are many towering Livistonas
along with the occasional Arecastrum (now Syagrus) romanzoffianum
the Queen Palm, one of my favourites, with its beautiful, feathery
foliage.
Perhaps the highlight of a trip to Lisbon is a visit
to the Jardim Botanico, hidden away in the corner of a particularly
busy & bustling pact of the city. But once you have managed
to find the entrance, a magical, peaceful oasis of palms reveals
itself.
On entering, one passes first large clumps of Opuntia
and Cordyline, before arriving at a magnificent, tall, aged Phoenix
canariensis, flanked by a Syagrus romanzoffianum, of similar proportions.
Beyond these is a grove of mature Howeas, both H. forsteriana and
H. belmoreana and some beautiful Rhopalostylis sapida and R. baueri,
the Nikau, or Shaving Brush, palms of New Zealand - two more of
my favourites which I feel should be planted much more widely.
Standing in the shade of these tall palm trees on
a hot summer's day, the sensation is truly tropical. The garden
seems to be planted almost entirely with palms and the effect is
spectacular - many species of Sabal, Brahea, a luxuriant Phoenix
roebelenii or two...
On my first visit to the garden there was a single
specimen of Archontophoenix, about 5m in height, but looking less
than healthy, and on a subsequent trip it had been removed.
One of the most striking features is a lane of untrimmed
Washingtonia filifera, standing like giant haystacks. Chamaedoreas
are there in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, plus tree ferns,
Cycads, and a massive Jubaea chilensis. Wonderful!
The garden is in a sheltered posit ion and obviously
enjoys a particularly mild, year-round climate. Generally speaking
it is unusual to see palms close to the coast in this part of Portugal,
presumably because of the strong winds blowing in off the Atlantic.
However, in a part of Oporto where I regularly stay, there has recently
been a planting along the sea front of Phoenix canariensis, in an
effort to create a 'Riviera feel' to a not very attractive area.
These young palms each have their own mini-greenhouse of polythene
to protect them from the wind and spray, and most seem to be surviving,
though some have been blown to shreds - polythene and all. I shall
observe their progress with interest'
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