Chamaerops humilis is found in Algeria, Baleares, France, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, and Tunisia.

Native to the western Mediterranean region. There are two varieties:

• Chamaerops humilis var. humilis. Southwestern Europe, including Portugal, Spain, southernmost France, and western Italy, plus various western Mediterranean islands, always at fairly low altitudes. The northernmost naturally occurring palm in the world, at 43° 07' N at Hyères-les-Palmiers on the south coast of France.
• Chamaerops humilis var. argentea (syn. Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera). Northwestern Africa, in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco at up to 2,000 m altitude.

It is a small clustering palm, growing to a height of 1-4 metres, rarely to 6 metres. The leaves are palmately compound, 1-1.5 m long, with 10-20 fingered leaflets 50-80 cm long arranged in a fan at the end of the heavily armed 30-70 cm petiole. In C. humilis var. humilis the leaves are green, while in C. humilis var. argentea they are strongly glaucous a silvery-blue waxy coating, similar in colour to Brahea armata leaves.