Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
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The Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a botanical garden of 120,000 m2 specialized in palms (Arecaceae). It is an artificial hill, with views of the ocean, located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The gardens include a large system of waterfalls, streams and ponds, a museum dedicated to palms, and a display shade house. The project was started in 1995 on a former landfill and only opened to the public in 2014.[1] The valuable palm collection gathers about 600 species of palms and it is focused on the ones native to world islands. Trees and shrubs of other plant families are also displayed, organised in "biogeographical sections". All gardens are maintained with no pesticides and no fertilizers, different species of wild birds are easily seen in the palmetum.
Location
The palmetum is located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, capital city of the Western Canary Islands, in the district of Cabo Llanos, by the Parque Marítimo César Manrique. It is an artificial hill originally made of rubbish: a former landfill of the city, by the ocean. The average annual temperature is 21,7 °C and the absolute minimum temperature recorded is 13 °C.
History
The old landfill was shut in 1983. The creation of the gardens was started in 1995 with funding from the
Buildings and facilities
- The entrance building has a reception with a small shop and the exhibit hall with a palm museum. Offices are located on the upper floor. A tower with a spiral staircase and an elevator links the entrance with a bridge to the gardens.
- The octagon, El Octógono, is a half-sunken shade house of 2.300 m2, designed to host the most delicate species. It contains a dense display of tropical plants, crossed by winding paths, streams, bridges, and waterfalls.
- The Ethnographical Palm Museum is a semisubterranean structure, partly covered in vegetation. This building is unfinished and still closed. It will host the existing collection of palm-related objects and dry specimens, lecture room.
Living collections
As of 2016, the plant collection includes at least 1853
The palm collection has 573 taxa. 163 are represented by at least one adult. 192 taxa are in the IUCN red list and 38 of them are critically endangered; 42 "IUCN palms" reached the adult stage.
Other well-represented families are Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae, Apocynaceae, Bromeliaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae and Moraceae.
The collection focuses on palms from islands and the Caribbean species are the most represented. The collection of Thrinax, Coccothrinax and Hemithrinax is one of the most complete in the world, as it proceeds from numerous field expeditions and collaborations with botanical gardens in the Caribbean, especially with La Habana, Cienfuegos and Las Tunas in Cuba, the Montgomery Botanical Center in Miami and the Jardín Botánico Nacional de Santo Domingo.
Some taxa are grown in sufficient number to allow
Biogeographical sections
The surface of the hill is divided in "biogeographical sections", in order to host the
- Thermophilous scrub of the Canary Islands: Anaga. This is the large North-facing slope of the hill, planted with the local flora native to the neighbouring mountain chain of Anaga. There are all types of native species, including narrow endemics and native trees, and abundant Canary Islands date palms, Phoenix canariensis.
- Madagascar. This large section includes a wide pond with Bismarckia nobilis tower above the rest. Remarkable palms are the large group of Ravenea xerophila grown in a rockery and three Tahina spectabilis, there are different Ravenea, Beccariophoenix, and Dypsis species .An adult baobab sown in 1996, Adansonia za, grows by the lake, and other endemic trees have been planted in the area, such as Delonix species.
- Caribbean Islands. It is the largest of all sections and includes the main square of the park, surrounded by H. ekmaniana and H. compacta.
- South America. A straight road follows the stream, planted with some large Attalea and Syagrus of different species, and a representation of the most significant South American palms, including the popular Pejibaye, Bactris gasipaes and Açai, Euterpe oleracea.
- Central America. A small section by the lake, where the largest trees are Sabal mauritiiformis and Swietenia macrophylla
- New Caledonia. This section overlooks the ocean, with a grove of 50 Araucaria columnaris sown in 2001. There is a grove of red leaf palms, Chambeyronia macrocarpa, and a significant collection of palms and trees endemic to New Caledonia, including Pandanus and conifers of different species. There is also a collection of food crops from the Pacific islands.
- Melanesia. A small section with palms chiefly native to breadnut trees, nonisand other trees and shrubs.
- Hawaii. Different species of the only Hawaiian palm genus Erythrina sandwicensis, Hawaiian cotton and different Hawaiian hibiscus.
- Australia. Most Australian palm genera are represented in this section and two enormous Corypha utan are the largest palms in the palmetum.
- Asia. The main features are a majestic specimen of Ficus religiosa, a path overlooking the ocean with coconut palms and the huge leaves of Corypha umbraculifera. Many Asian palm genera are represented and a collection of uncommon banana trees is scattered through this section.
- Africa. Many Oil Palms (Elaeis guineensis), and the most iconic African palms: Raphia, Borassus, and Hyphaene, but also other genera, including Medemia.
- Mascarene Islands. A small strip, with mature specimens of the genera Acanthophoenix, Hyophorbe, Latania and Dictyosperma.
- Biogeographical Sections of New Guinea and of Borneo and Philippines were started in 2007-2008 and are not yet open to the public.
References
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