Trithrinax campestris [pallet]

This stunning palm from Argentina and Uruquay can take severe cold and withstand high winds. Mature established palms have reputedly taken -17C without damage, but we always recommend protection in severe conditions.

Trithrinax campestris is fiercely armed with spines on ends of leaf tips and trunk and is usually a clumping or (rarely) single trunked palm to 5 metres high. It has a tight crown of stiff palmate leaves, silver/blue on top and glaucous green underneath. The trunk is spiny and is covered in a hessian like fibre. In habitat, the palm grows in arid mountains where it forms populations in millions, withstanding long periods of drought and extreme heat in summer and cold temperatures in winter.

It has already proven a very worthy garden plant in parts of Northern Europe but will always be rare and difficult to find due to it being incredibly slow growing. The only way to obtain a large plant is to buy an imported specimen.