Pronunciation: ZOM- bee-uh ahn-til-LARE-uh
Common Name: Zombie Palm
Zombia antillarum is a fairly marginal palm for California, but some have manage to grow it for many years (no adult palms in the state at this time). It is one of the more slow growing palms one can keep alive in California. This is a unique, clustering species with very ornamental spination along the trunk covered with a large, tan, tight fibrous mesh and pronounced rings. Otherwise palm tends to look like a suckering Coccothrinax species
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: clustering with a crown of 10-12 fan leaves per stem
- Height: 6' estimate
- Trunk: multiple; 5" thick; covered with dense, thick, tan fibrous mesh; pronounced rings where fibrous mesh adheres tightly; regularly spaced tan, thick, downward-pointing 3" spines arranged around trunk arising from each ring
- Crownshaft: none
- Spread: 4'-6'+
- Leaf Description: palmate; 3' long; leaflets show some droop near tips; bright green on top and pale green/silvery beneath (contrast particularly obvious in flash photography); leaf blades split to about 3/4 of their length
- Petiole/Leaf bases: narrow/thin; arching; unarmed; un-split leaf bases; arise from trunk rings
- Reproduction: monoecious
- Inflorescence: 18" long; from within leaves; white flowers
- Fruit: spherical; 1" thick; white when ripe (no fruiting palms in California)
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 30F
- Drought Tolerance: good
- Dry Heat Tolerance: very good
- Cool Tolerance: low
- Wind Tolerance: good
- Salt Tolerance: good
- Growth Rate: very very slow
- Soil Preference: adaptable
- Light Requirement: partial to full sun
- Human Hazards: spiny trunks can be hazardous, though few palms in California are trunking
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: none
- Transplants?: unknown
- Indoor?: unlikely to be a good candidate due to high light requirements and need for heat
- Availability: very rare
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