Trachycarpus fortunei windmill palm

Trachycarpus fortunei, Roble Gym courtyard (now removed). John Rawlings, c. 2005

Leaves like fans, rather smaller than on other fan palms, with slender toothed stalks characterize the windmill palm. The scars of old leaves are enmeshed in a tangled mass of hair that decays with age to reveal a trunk that tapers downward. These are among the hardiest of palms.

Original specimens, from 1890, in the inner and outer southeast circles of the Inner Quad were taken down around 2020, but younger ones can be seen in the inner northeast and inner northwest circles. A group is between Ng House and Vidalakis Dining. Find two on the left of the Mausoleum and another nearby, on the northern periphery of the Arizona Garden.

Trachycarpus fortunei trunk details, Roble Gym courtyard (now removed). John Rawlings, c. 2005

Name derivation: Trachycarpus – From Gk trachys (rough) and karpos (fruit); fortunei – after Robert Fortune (1812–1880) who collected in China, and introduced the tea plant from China into India. Also see Fortunella.