The Trachycarpus fortunei (Hook.) H. Wendl. (1861) is native to a vast area spreading from central China to northern Myanmar, where it grows in humid woody areas up to more than 2.200 metres of altitude.

This splendid palm has a characteristic solitary trunk, thin (about 20 cm of diameter) and tall up to about 10 m, covered by a thick coat of brown-grey hair and by the remains of the foliar petioles. The leaves of the Trachycarpus fortunei are palmate, of dark green colour on the upper page and slightly greyish in the lower one. Usually, they reach the 90 cm of length, and are cut for about one half of their length in thin segments, usually hanging. The petiole, long about 80-90 cm, is just indented on the margins. It is a dioecious plant.

Due to its well known resistance to the low temperatures (around -15 °C) and its fast growth, it is the most diffused palm in the cold-temperate climate regions all over the world.