Palms
Original title: Palmeiras
Describes the palms grown in Madeira, none native, chiefly the date palm and the Canary Island palm, with notes on where they grow and other introduced species.
The palm family is represented in Madeira by several species, none of them native. The most widespread at present are Phoenix dactylifera, native to northern Africa, and Ph. Jubae, native to the Canary Islands. The latter has dark green, closely set leaves; the former has greyish-green leaves, usually somewhat spaced apart. The dates of the Canary Island palm are smaller than those of the desert palm, and their stones are not elongated as they are in that species. Ph. jubae is cultivated in the municipal garden and in the quintas (country estates) to the east and west of Funchal; Ph dactylifera appears in many localities of the lower zone of Madeira, and also on Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’). On this last island the fruits of the desert palm reach full ripeness only after they have fallen. Besides these two palms, Madeira also has Trachycarpus excelsus, pritchardia filifera, Latania borbonica, Seaforthia elegans, etc., etc.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 04
Abroad
- Africa
North Africa, origin of the date palm.
Africa is referred to as a destination of Madeiran expeditions, soldiers and exiled convicts, and as an export market for Madeiran butter. The explorers Capelo and Ivens crossed the continent, and North Africa is noted as the origin of the date palm.
- Canary Islands
Spain. Origin of Phoenix jubae.
The Canary Islands are the archipelago neighbouring Madeira, with disputed accounts of their discovery. Tradition holds that their Béthencourt king sold them to Prince Henry in exchange for lands in Madeira. The Elucidário notes many contacts between the two archipelagos, including scientific visits, the Orfeão Madeirense's tour in May 1922 and the massacre of forty Jesuits in their waters.
- Funchal
The Canary palm grows in its municipal garden and in quintas east and west of the city.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Porto Santo
The date palm grows there, its fruit ripening only after falling.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.