''Trachycarpus latisectus'' (formerly ''Trachycarpus sikkimensis'' ined.) is an attractive

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm ...

with large leathery leaves with exceptionally wide segments and a thick, bare and ringed trunk. Its fan-shaped leaves resemble those of ''

Livistona ''Livistona'' is a genus of palms, the botanical family Arecaceae, native to southeastern and eastern Asia, Australasia, and the Horn of Africa. They are fan palms, the leaves with an armed petiole terminating in a rounded, costapalmate f ...

''. It has a bare trunk and its seeds resemble those of '' T. martianus''. ''Trachycarpus latisectus'' is commonly known as Windamere palm, for the locality where its first botanical description was made, the garden of the famous Windamere Hotel in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was formally photographed and collected for the first time only in 1992 during the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Sikkim Expedition. It is considered a temperate palm, and has been reported to withstand a wide range of climates, from tropical, subtropical to cold and wet conditions. It is native to

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, where it has been reported from a range of elevation between 3500 and 7000 feet. It remains in the wild in just one tiny, heavily altered location which is immediately threatened by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

. ''Trachycarpus latisectus'' is cultivated outside its native range as an ornamental. Seeds are considered very easy to germinate. They should be soaked for at least 12 hours, then placed in a mixture of moist

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

with

perlite Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial ...

vermiculite Vermiculite is a hydrous phyllosilicate mineral which undergoes significant expansion when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently, and commercial furnaces can routinely produce this effect. Vermiculite forms by the we ...

within a plastic bag, and keep at 18 - 28 °C. Viable seeds will sprout in a time frame between two and ten months, depending on several factors. The tree grows quickly and easily. ''T. latisectus'' requires a rich and loamy but well-drained soil. Young plants are best grown under some shade. As it does not have an invasive root system, it also grows well in containers.International Palm Society (Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom), ''Trachycarpus latisectus'', Windamere palm
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References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7831355 latisectus Flora of East Himalaya Plants described in 1997