Fiber Palm

Trithrinax

A genus of 5 species of Fan Palms native to South America.
They generally have thick trunks covered in fibrous leaf sheaths that persist.
They also have leafstalks that are often spined.
Trithrinax requires full sun on fertile, well drained soil. Grows best if kept moist though very tolorant of drought. They are reproduced form seed.

Trithrinax acanthocoma ( Spiny Fiber Palm )
From Brazil and Argentina; this slow growing Palm reaches up to 15 feet in height with a trunk diameter of 4 inches. The solitary stout trunk is densely covered in dark brown spiky fiber.
The fan shaped leaves, up to 3 feet across, are gray-green. The leaflets reach up to 24 x 2 inches.
The long showy sprays of creamy-white flowers are followed by round, cream-colored berries up to an inch across.
Hardy from zone 8b to 10 tolerating 10 F. Unconfirmed reports of zone 7 hardiness.
Drought tolerant.

Trithrinax brasiliensis
A very fast growing Palm that can reach up to 30 x 10 feet with a trunk diameter up to 8 inches. Endangered in the wild; this Palm is native to Brazil and northern Argentina. The blue-green, fan-shaped fronds are up to 7 feet across with leaf segments up to 28 inches in length. The trunk is both very fibrous and very spiny. The sprays of small pale yellow flowers are followed by light green, grape-like fruits.
Becoming popular in cultivation this Palm is hardy zones 8b to 11 and very drought tolerant. It can survive on as little as 5 inches of rain in a year and actually prefers a dry climate.

Trithrinax campestris
A tall Palm, reaching a maximum size of 100 x 12 feet with a trunk diameter up to 20 inches, that is native to Argentina.
The fan-shaped leaves are very stiff.
This Palm tolerates as cold as 0 F if very temporary as well as desert heat.It is known to have survived in a walled garden in London, England.