The Christmas Palm (Adonidia merrillii), sometimes called the Manila Palm, is a single-trunked species favored in tropical and subtropical landscaping. It is known for its elegant form and manageable size. It offers a classic palm silhouette, making it a favored choice for small gardens, patios, and street plantings.
The Defining Trunk and Crown
The trunk of the Christmas Palm is slender, typically reaching a diameter of about five to eight inches at maturity. It has a smooth, gray surface marked by evenly spaced rings, which are the scars from old, shed fronds. Unlike many other palms, the trunk often exhibits a slightly swollen or bulging base, giving it a subtle, graceful contour.
Directly beneath the fronds lies the smooth, light green to grayish-green crownshaft. The crownshaft is formed by the tubular bases of the leaves. This structure gives the palm a neat, self-cleaning habit, as old fronds detach cleanly at the trunk without the need for manual removal. The crownshaft sits like a smooth cylinder, offering a clean color transition from the gray trunk below to the vibrant green foliage above.
Fronds and Foliage
The leaves, or fronds, of the Christmas Palm are pinnate. These fronds are typically bright, glossy green and have an attractive, arching form that creates a relatively small, compact crown. Each frond generally measures between four and seven feet in length.
The leaflets are arranged along the central stalk in a manner that often creates a slightly V-shaped profile when viewed from the end. Leaflets are stiffly held and can be up to two feet long, giving the foliage a full, lush texture. A mature Christmas Palm usually maintains a relatively small canopy of about five to ten live, arching fronds at any given time.
The Seasonal Display
The feature that gives the Christmas Palm its common name is the color change of its fruit in late fall and early winter. Before the fruit develops, the palm produces clusters of small, creamy-white flowers. These inflorescences emerge from beneath the crownshaft, just above the trunk.
Following pollination, the palm develops clusters of ovoid fruits, which start out as a pale green color. These fruits ripen, transforming into a scarlet or cherry-red drupe. The fruit is small, typically measuring about one inch to 1.5 inches long. This transition to bright red usually occurs around November and December in the Northern Hemisphere, creating a visual contrast of red fruit against the green crownshaft and foliage. The clusters of red fruit hanging against the green structure of the palm closely resemble holiday ornaments.