Mule Palms of Mississippi only uses pollen from the proven cold hardy surviving Silver Queen Palm - Syagrus romanzoffiana var. litoralis which has withstood the Mississippi Gulf Coast winters. We often have cold winters where our temperatures drop into the mid teens and we have seen sustained teens for 12+ hours.

The Queen Palm - Syagrus romanzoffianum

Syagrus romanzoffiana the queen palm or cocos palm is a palm native to South America, from Paraguay and northern Argentina north to eastern Brazil and west to eastern Bolivia. It had been classified within the Cocos genus as Cocos plumosa, and was assigned to Arecastrum, then moved to Syagrus. As a result of the nomenclature confusion, they often retain a previous name in popular usage. It is a medium-sized palm, quickly reaching maturity at a height of up to 50' tall, with pinnate leaves.

The palm has a wide introduced range due to its popularity as an ornamental garden tree.

Named after Nikolay Rumyantsev (1754–1826), who was Russia's Foreign Minister and Imperial Chancellor and notable patron of the Russian voyages of exploration. He sponsored the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe.

The Queen will safely extend the "tropical look" throughout USDA Hardiness Zone 9B to 11a

Culture: Syagrus romanzoffianum thrives in full sun or light shade. The trees tolerate a range of soil types from clay to sand. As with most palms, good drainage is most important. The trees grow well in coastal areas and is salt water tolerate.

Common Name: Queen Palm

Cold Tolerance: 25 Deg. F

USDA Zones: 9b to 11a

Typical Height: 50'

Growth Rate: Fast

Habit: Solitary

***We have found over the years that a small percentage of queen palms exhibit more cold hardy and robust characteristics.

We seek out these special queen palms test them here on the Gulf Coast and only after proven to have withstood mid teen temperatures will we use their pollen in our hybridization program.

These more cold hardy queen palms are the Silver Queen - Syagrus romanzoffiana var. litoralis, Note below the dotted line some published information on the Silver Queen.

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For additional information on the Silver Queen Palm visit... Northern California Chapter http://www.palmsnc.org/pages/palm_detail.php?id=168

Silver Queen Palm - Syagrus romanzoffiana var. litoralis

This cultivar of the Silver Queen Palm is from Argentina, Uruguay,and Southern Brazil Santa Catarina, where it is found at over 1000m (3300 ft.) altitude with a thicker sturdier trunk that supports a compact crown of arching fronds with particularly thick and wide leaflets. It is very cold hardy to 20 Deg. F and is said to survive temperatures of 15 Deg. F undamaged. This palm has been in cultivation in the U.S. for many years now under the name Silver Queen Palm. Reportedly the palm received that name in Florida not because its fronds are silver but because after a hard freeze that killed the more frost tender Queen Palms, the ones that survived (the Silver Queens), had leaflets that appeared in a strange, translucent silver tone in sunlight, the result of a light frost damage. 

This is a smaller medium size palm growing to a height of 30'.   It particular likes a slightly acid soil. These require more frequent feeding during the warm growing season. The Silver Queen will certainly extend the "tropical look" throughout USDA Hardiness Zones 9a to 11a. Beware if you are planting in Zone 8b it is simply a matter of time and a cold winter will kill your Queen Palm however the Silver Queen can survive when well established.

Silver Queen Palms are everyone's favorite for a lush, tropical feature in many types of landscapes and are ideally sized (20' to 30' tall) for many landscape uses. They don't grow too tall and overbearing, yet, they're tall enough to not be considered a dwarf palm.

Mule Palms of Mississippi use the Silver Queen Palm - Syagrus romanzoffiana var. litoralis pollen for pollinating the Pindo Palm - Butia odorata creating a more cold hardy Mule Palm. See our Mule Palm information page for more details.

Culture: Syagrus romanzoffianum var. litoralis thrives in full sun or light shade. The trees tolerate a range of well draining soil and likes a slightly acid soil. As with most palms, good drainage is most important. The trees grow well in coastal areas and is salt water tolerate.

Common Name: Silver Queen Palm

Cold Tolerance: 20 Deg. F (reported to have survived 15 Deg. F undamaged)

USDA Zones: 9a to 11a

Typical Height: 20' to 30' with some reaching a height of 40'

Growth Rate: Fast

Habit: Solitary

Below photos are of our three new Queen Palms - Syagrus romanzoffiana var. litoralis "Silver Queens" an additional pollen source to help meet high demands of our seedlings.