This fan-leaved palm from the forests of southern China is the toughest sort we can grow here in the UK. It was planted to create a sub-tropical ambience when winters were much colder than now. The fibres insulating the trunk are the remains of old leaf-stalks, and were woven in China into raincoats. This palm grows very slowly and it will be several decades before we can admire its smooth, grey cathedral column of a bole.
Chusan Palm
All the way from Southern China
this Chusan Palm is standing
in our windy park.
And wait—
is that a monkey
up there?
No.
Just a palm
that looks like a giant flower.
Its leaves are freer than us.
They see the whole park.
We wander below—
tiny as toy figures
in a storybook.
My brother thinks he’s tall.
The tree looks down and says nothing.
For a moment,
it feels like the Bahamas –
like sunshine
should explode everywhere.
But no.
Just rain.
Just wind.
Just a palm tree,
pretending.