THE IMPERIAL PALM :

This palm is the main reason for Huerto del Cura garden's popularity (it was already listed in the Baedeker tourist guide printed in 1908).

Chaplain Castaño dedicated it to the Empress Elisabeth of Austria ("Sissi") when she visited the garden in 1894, hence its name. After the visit, the bust of the Empress was placed north of the Imperial Palm in remembrance of her visit.

Its rarity lies in the fact that the stems of this species generally grow from ground level when the tree is between 10 to 15 years old, while in this case they grew when the original palm was over 30 years and from the odd height of 2m over ground level, maintaining a peculiar synchronization in both time and height which has conferred it the shape of a green candlestick that it has today and transformed it into a truly odd specimen among palm trees.

This amazing eight stem candlestick weights over 8 tons and is fed exclusively on the sap produced by the central stem.It is 165 years old during which the differences among the growth and width of the stems have become evident.