La Palma and Its Natural Symbol

When talking about palm trees in the Canaries, everyone thinks of the Canary palm (Phoenix canariensis). But is it the natural symbol of La Palma? The answer is no: the plant symbol of the island is another tree.

The natural symbols of La Palma

The Canary law on natural symbols (Law 7/1991) assigns each island an animal and a plant. In La Palma, they are the rook, a crow with a red beak that only lives on this island in the Canaries, and the Canary pine (Pinus canariensis), which forms the large pine forests of the island and is capable of resprouting after fires.

The Canary palm, on the other hand, is one of the two natural symbols of all the Canaries, along with the canary.

The Canary palm

The Canary palm is endemic to the archipelago and grows naturally on all the islands. It is a relative of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), which is not Canarian, but is distinguished by its thicker trunk, denser crown, and small dates, which are of little value as food.

It can exceed 20 meters in height and has had many traditional uses: its leaves were used to make brooms, baskets, and roofs, and in La Gomera, its sap is used to produce the famous palm honey.

Palms in La Palma

In La Palma, there are palm groves in the ravines and low slopes, especially in the north and west of the island. In addition, other introduced palms coexist on the island, such as the date palm or the fan palm. To see these landscapes live, check out our webcams of La Palma.