英国欧洲棕榈协会 European Palm Society – 欧洲温带棕榈园艺团体

协会概况与组织定位

英国欧洲棕榈协会（European Palm Society, EPS, palmsociety.org.uk）是 1991 年在英国注册成立、专门面向欧洲及世界其他温带地区推广棕榈与异域植物栽培的非营利棕榈园艺团体，是国际棕榈协会（International Palm Society）在欧洲范围内的附属组织，定位是汇集与分享欧洲大陆棕榈与异域植物的栽培经验、扩宽栽培边界并鼓励更多热带、亚热带物种进入家庭、温室与玻璃花房；协会承认世界许多其他地区也面临与欧洲相近的气候挑战，因此向全球种植者开放经验与知识交流渠道，把吸收各地寒带、亚寒带亚热带气候下的实操经验视为自身的核心工作方式之一；同时，协会以会员自治为运行基础，由会员驱动论坛讨论、Facebook 互动、花园访问与《Chamaerops》在线期刊的内容编辑，所有面向会员的资源与活动均以服务会员为导向。

主要活动与对外交流渠道

协会的对外交流以主站点、讨论论坛、Facebook 页面与会员间花园访问四种形式展开；源站首页循环发布 EPS News 协会新闻与近年协会参与的棕榈保育与展示活动，新闻栏目收录 2024 年开始的”PACSOA 救援濒危塔伊纳棕（Tahina spectabilis）”专项行动、协会实地参观邱园棕榈屋准备 2027 年启动的”棕榈屋修复”项目、2023 年一群约 30 名会员集体参观英格兰东南部私人异域花园等动态；论坛版块负责日常问题答疑、棕榈鉴定、栽培经验分享与种子交换；Facebook 页面则承担更轻量的对外传播；会员花园开放日则是协会线下活动的重要形式之一，2024 年 9 月 8 日在英格兰 Essex 郡 Benfleet 镇 Paul Spracklin 名为 Hill top 的私人异域花园开放日，到访者得以近距离观赏大量 Brahea armata、Jubaea chilensis、x Butyagrus 杂交种等大型棕榈以及多肉、龙舌兰等耐旱植物。

棕榈数据库与《Chamaerops》在线期刊

协会长期建设的棕榈数据库（Palm Database）是一项面向会员与公众开放的开放式棕榈栽培经验库，项目目标是逐年汇集协会会员对各种棕榈及其他异域植物的实地栽培记录，逐步覆盖种植者关心的耐寒温度区间、发芽经验、土壤偏好、物种生长表现与照片素材，最终目标不是列出一份世界棕榈清单，而是聚焦”实际在种”的物种，让数据库反映欧洲温室、户外与家庭环境中棕榈的真实表现；与数据库并行的是《Chamaerops》在线期刊——这是协会主办的刊物，覆盖棕榈与异域植物栽培、研究与保育主题，源站保留了历期在线版本作为档案供公众浏览学习；这两项长期项目都是协会与世界各地棕榈与异域植物爱好者共享一手资料的重要渠道。

链接列表与苗圃指南服务

源站维护两个对公众开放的资源列表：一个面向园艺社团的”Interesting Links”有趣链接列表，收录从美国 Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society（CFPACS）、Cycad Society of South Africa、英国国际棕榈协会（IPS）、英国皇家园艺学会（RHS）耐寒棕榈专题、太平洋西北部棕榈协会、新西兰棕榈协会、Hawaii Island Palm Society 到法国 Fous de Palmiers、Société Palmophile Francophone、意大利 Tropicano Forum 等覆盖英美法德西荷意葡北欧澳洲新西兰等多地棕榈与异域植物社团的链接，方便各地种植者按协会组织定位横向对接；另一个是 Nursery Listings 苗圃指南列表，汇集英国 A L’ombre des Figuiers、Architectural Plants、Big Plant Nursery、Hardy Palms、Palms UK、Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens、荷兰 Coldpalm、My Palm Shop、Palma Verde 等数十家专营棕榈、异域植物与种子的供应商苗圃，并附简介说明苗圃主业、专攻类群与所在区域，为会员与公众采购棕榈与异域植物提供入口。

2024-2026 重点案例与公众保育参与

2024 年 4 月，协会发布对罕见濒危棕榈 Tahina spectabilis（中文常称”塔伊纳棕”或”巨型马达加斯加扇叶棕”）的救援呼吁，与澳大利亚 Palm and Cycad Society of Australia（PACSOA）、国际棕榈协会共同支持将两株约 7.2 吨重的塔伊纳棕从澳大利亚北领地一处私家园迁地移栽到昆士兰 Mt. Coot-tha 植物园长期保存，项目预算约 21,000 澳元，协会呼吁会员自愿捐助并已为该项目募集资金；2024 年 10 月，协会转载 BBC 报道，介绍剑桥大学植物园 2009 年获得的 4 米高塔伊纳棕标本顺利迁居至康沃尔 Eden 项目热带生物群落区，并由剑桥团队前往邱园取回一株较年轻的塔伊纳棕备份；2025 年 10 月与 2026 年 6 月，协会分别报道英国 Weymouth 海滨加拿利海枣被保留与 16 名会员集体参观邱园棕榈屋的进展，与丘园计划 2027 年启动、耗时约 4 年的温室修复工程对接，体现协会对欧洲棕榈保育与展示的实际参与。

官网：https://www.palmsociety.org.uk/

Organisation Profile and Mission

The European Palm Society (EPS, palmsociety.org.uk) is a United Kingdom-registered non-profit palm society founded in 1991 and affiliated with the International Palm Society; its mission is the promotion of palm and exotic-plant cultivation across Europe and in other temperate regions of the world, the pushing back of boundaries in growing palms and exotic species outdoors, and the encouragement of more tropical and sub-tropical species in homes, conservatories and glasshouses. EPS recognises that many parts of the world share temperate or Mediterranean climates with parts of Europe and welcomes growers worldwide into its knowledge exchange. The society operates in a member-driven fashion, with the website, discussion forum, Facebook page and in-person garden visits serving as the four main channels of communication; the archived issues of the former journal Chamaerops remain accessible online as a long-running record of the society’s work.

News, Events and Member Activities

The EPS news pages chronicle the society’s recent activities, including a 2024 call supporting the Palm and Cycad Society of Australia’s effort to relocate two critically endangered Tahina spectabilis palms from a Darwin private garden to Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Garden in Queensland; a 2024 visit by approximately sixteen members to Kew Gardens ahead of the planned refurbishment of the Palm House; a 2024 garden open day at Paul Spracklin’s “Hill top” exotic garden in Benfleet, Essex; a 2023 visit by around thirty members to a private garden in south-east England described as one of the finest exotic gardens in the region; and ongoing reporting on UK temperate-palm conservation cases, including the 2025 decision to save Canary Island date palms on Weymouth seafront from removal and the late-2023 relocation of an iconic Canary Island date palm from a Lambeth roundabout in London to the Churchill Gardens estate in Pimlico.

Palm Database and the Chamaerops Archive

The Palm Database is a long-running open project to which members submit accounts of palms and exotic plants they are growing, with the explicit goal of producing a publicly accessible resource that reflects what European and temperate-zone growers actually cultivate rather than a complete world checklist; submissions cover temperature ranges experienced, seed germination tips, soil preferences and accompanying photographs, and the editors invite members to identify horticultural varieties that are not currently covered by any scientific naming convention. In parallel, the EPS hosts the archived online issues of Chamaerops, the society’s journal, providing an extended record of European palm and exotic-plant cultivation, taxonomy and conservation writing. New species or variety entries are added on request via the suggestions form, with reviews handled by the small editorial team.

Interesting Links and Nursery Directory

The Interesting Links directory groups affiliated and allied palm and exotic-plant societies — including the Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society, the Cycad Society of South Africa, Fous de Palmiers (France), the International Palm Society, the Royal Horticultural Society’s hardy palm pages, the Pacific Northwest Palm & Exotic Plant Society, the New Zealand Palm Society, the Hawaii Island Palm Society, the Tropical Garden Society of Sydney, the Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia, and several German-, Italian-, Dutch- and Polish-language forums — alongside palm-and-exotic-plant information resources such as Bergstrom Gardens, Larry Noblick’s Butia article, the Citrus Pages and the Cycad Jungle site. The Nursery Directory lists specialist European and international suppliers of palms and exotics, including the Architectural Plants nursery in West Sussex, the A L’ombre des Figuiers French nursery, Big Plant Nursery, Hardy Palms, Palms UK in Hampshire, Coldpalm in the Netherlands, My Palm Shop (pan-European distribution), Coldplant Nursery in China, Marathon Plants in Greece and dozens of others, with brief descriptions of each nursery’s specialty, size and region.

2024-2026 Highlights and Public Engagement

Members of the EPS have actively supported conservation, transplantation and public-engagement projects in recent years. In April 2024 the society publicised the PACSOA appeal to relocate two critically endangered Tahina spectabilis palms from the Northern Territory to Brisbane, Australia; the 7.2-tonne move was later reported as successfully completed and the palms were observed pushing new growth by September 2024. In October 2024 the society reported on a separate translocation of a 4-metre Tahina spectabilis from Cambridge University Botanic Garden to the Eden Project’s tropical biome in Cornwall. In June 2026 approximately sixteen EPS members visited Kew Gardens to view the Palm House ahead of its planned 2027 closure for a refurbishment estimated to last around four years and aimed at making the building the first net-zero-heated historic glasshouse of its type. The society also reports on temperate-zone palm conservation cases in the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

Official Site: https://www.palmsociety.org.uk/