Phoenix canariensis hort. ex Chabaud

Canary island date palm

Canary Island date palm is native to the Canary Islands, off the northwestern coast of Africa. An attractive tree, it has been widely planted in other suitable climates, where they naturalize and in some cases become invasive.

Plants: 33–66′ (10–20 m), rarely up to 131′ (40 m). Trees have a single, massive, gray-brown trunk up to 4′ (1.2 m) in diameter. The trunk is tiled with diamond-shaped leaf scars.

Leaves: Between 75-125 leaves emerge from the tip of the trunk, forming a rounded crown 20–40′ (6.1–12 m) in diameter. Each leaf is pinnate, 13–20′ (4–6 m) long, with 80-100 dark green leaflets on either side of a central spine, the rachis. Individual leaflets (pinnae) are 8–16″ (20–40 cm) long.

Flowers: Creamy white to pale yellow.

Fruits: Oval, yellow to orange drupes ¾ ⨉ ⅜″ (2 ⨉ 1 cm)—a date—with a single large seed.

Edibility: Dates are edible, black when fully ripe, but the fruit portion is too thin to be worth eating.

Habitats: Fertile, well-drained soils, medium moisture levels, and full sun.

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Phoenix canariensis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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