Hispaniola silver thatch palm

The Essence

"Coccothrinax argentea is a fan palm endemic to Hispaniola, growing wild in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is a medium-sized palm reaching about 10 m tall, on a slender grey to blackish trunk up to 20 cm thick that is covered in a woven thatch of fibres and smooth in its older basal parts. The circular leaves, about 1.5 m wide and divided almost all the way to the hastula, are dark green above and silvery beneath - the source of both its epithet and its silver-themed common names. On Hispaniola the palm is put to work rather than merely admired. Its leaves are woven into hats and baskets, and the broom is written into its names: guano de escoba in Spanish, latanier balai in French, broom palm in English. Very young leaves are eaten as a vegetable, and the species is used in traditional medicine - Balick and colleagues recorded its use among Latino healers in New York City for uterine fibroids and hot flashes. It is frequently confused with Coccothrinax argentata of southern Florida, which grows a little faster, transplants more easily, and has slightly less silvery leaf undersides. Outside the tropics C. argentea stays uncommon in gardens; in California it is rare largely because it grows so slowly."

Historically, Coccothrinax Argentea has been Ancient lineage within the Arecaceae family, isolated in Tropical Regions.. It has served as a vital biological marker for biodiversity in its native tropical ecosystems for centuries.