Trachycarpus takil - Kumaon waaierpalm

The real Kalamuni takil is most hardy Trachycarpus. We harvest the seeds ourselves. This beauty comes from Kalamuni in the district of Uttarakhand in the high mountains of Northern India. The 7800m (24000 feet) Nanda devi mountain is merely 10 km away. These plants grow at altitudes between 2200 and 2800 metres (6500 and 8500 feet) and tolerate temperatures as low as -13C in their native habitat! 

We consider them to be the best and most hardy of all Trachycarpus! Stiffer leaves than Trachycarpus fortunei with silver undersides - really wonderful to behold. The fibre and leaf shape seem much more similar to Trachycarpus princeps, Trachycarpus manipur and Trachycarpus oreophilus, than to Trachycarpus fortunei. This palm grows quite close to the permanent snowline and the locals confirmed they can experience several months of snow in winter at the higher elevations, so it promises to be one of the cold-hardiest palms in existence!

Following the travels of Martin Gibbons in the early nineties to 'rediscover' this plant, we regularly undertake journeys to find the Takil ourselves and harvest our own seeds from high in the Himalayas! We have been cultivating our own plants since 2007.