Adonidia merrillii - Manila Palm

Manila Palm is a pretty palm that looks like a dwarf version of the royal palm. It has a single slender gray stem that is smooth, sectioned by leaf scar rings and is swollen at the base. A short green crownshaft supports a neatly compact crown of about a dozen, plus or minus a few, pinnate leaves. These are arched and about 5 ft long with leaflets that are about 2 ft long and 2 inches wide. Christmas palm grows to an overall height of about 16 ft. From the point at which the crownshaft attaches to the trunk emerge 2 ft long inflorescences containing small greyish-green flowers. By autumn these are followed by green fruits 3 cm long and half as wide. By late fall most of the green fruits are beginning to ripen and by late December are bright and brilliant red - like ornaments on a Christmas palm. Christmas palm is native to the Philippines.