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Relative tolerances of palms to salinity — Two sources of data

    Source 1* Source 2**
Botanical name Common name Tolerance to salt spray Tolerance to soil salinity Tolerance to salt spray Tolerance to soil salinity
Acoelorrhaphe wrightii Becc. paurotis palm --- --- moderate moderate
Brahea armata Mexican blue fan palm --- moderately sensitive --- ---
Butia capitata pindo palm --- sensitive --- ---
Butia capitata Becc. pindo palm --- --- tolerant tolerant
Caryota mitis Lour. fishtail palm --- --- moderate moderate
Chamaerops humilis L. Mediterranean fan palm --- --- tolerant tolerant
Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Wendl. areca palm --- --- moderate moderate
Nolina recurvata Hemsle ponytail palm (not a true palm) --- --- moderate moderate
Phoenix canariensis Canary Island date palm --- tolerant
Phoenix canariensis Chabaud. Canary Island date --- --- moderate moderate
Phoenix dactylifera L. date palm --- tolerant tolerant tolerant
Phoenix reclinata Jacq. Senegal date palm --- --- moderate moderate
Phoenix roebelinii O’Brien. pygmy date palm --- --- moderate moderate
Rhapis excelsa Henry lady palm --- --- moderate moderate
Sabal minor ‘Riverside’ dwarf blue palmetto --- moderately sensitive --- ---
Sabal palmetto cabbage palm --- sensitive --- ---
Sabal palmetto Lodd. cabbage palmetto --- --- tolerant tolerant
Serenoa repens Small saw palmetto --- --- tolerant tolerant
Syagrus romanzoffiana L. queen palm --- --- moderate moderate
Trachycarpus fortunei Chinese windmill palm --- sensitive --- ---
Trithrinax brasiliensis Brazilian fan palm --- moderately sensitive --- ---
Washingtonia filifera California fan palm --- moderately tolerant --- ---
Washingtonia robusta Mexican fan palm --- moderately tolerant --- ---
Washingtonia robusta Wendl. Mexican fan palm --- --- tolerant tolerant

* From Miyamoto, Martinez, Padilla, Portillo, and Ornelas, 2004.

** From Wu and Dodge, 2005.

Source 1’s ratings for tolerance to saline water spray:

Rating Definition
tolerant the growth of shoots is reduced by 25%, or more than 25% of leaves are injured, when plant is irrigated with water that has EC greater than 3 dS/m
moderately tolerant the growth of shoots is reduced by 25%, or more than 25% of leaves are injured, when plant is irrigated with water that has EC of 2 to 3 dS/m and which contains less than 425 ppm of sodium and less than 590 ppm of chloride
moderately sensitive the growth of shoots is reduced by 25%, or more than 25% of leaves are injured, when plant is irrigated with water that has EC of 1 to 2 dS/m and which contains less than 280 ppm of sodium and less than 360 ppm of chloride
sensitive the growth of shoots is reduced by 25%, or more than 25% of leaves are injured, when plant is irrigated with water that has EC of less than 1 dS/m and which contains less than 280 ppm of sodium and less than 360 ppm of chloride

Source 1’s ratings for tolerance to salinity of soil:

Rating Definition
tolerant leaves uninjured when the soil’s salinity, as indicated by ECe, is 8 to10 dS/m
moderately tolerant leaves uninjured with ECe of 6 to 8 dS/m
moderately sensitive leaves sustain minimal to recognizable injuries when the soil’s ECe reaches 3 to 6 dS/m
sensitive leaves sustain minimal, if any, recognizable injuries with ECe of less than 3 dS/m

Source 2’s ratings for tolerance to saline water spray:

Rating Definition
highly tolerant no symptoms of salt-related stress observed when irrigated via overhead sprinklers with water containing 600 mg/L of sodium and 900 mg/L of chloride
tolerant no symptoms of salinity-induced stress observed when irrigated via overhead sprinklers with water containing 200 mg/L of sodium and 400 mg/L of chloride
moderately tolerant symptoms of salinity-induced stress observed on less than 10% of leaves when irrigated via overhead sprinklers with water containing 200 mg/L of sodium and 400 mg/L of chloride
sensitive symptoms of salinity-induced stress observed on more than 20% of leaves when irrigated via overhead sprinklers with water containing 200 mg/L of sodium and 400 mg/L of chloride

Source 2’s ratings for tolerance to salinity of soil:

Rating Definition
highly tolerant no symptoms of salt-related stress develop, even when the soil’s salinity, as indicated by ECe, exceeds 6 dS/m
tolerant no symptoms of salt-related stress develop with ECe of 4 to 6 dS/m
moderately tolerant no symptoms of salt-related stress develop with ECe of 2 to 4 dS/m
sensitive no symptoms of salt-related stress develop with ECe of less than 2 dS/m
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