What is the tallest palm tree in the world?

The wax palm (ceroxylon quindiuense) can grow between 160 and 200 feet high making it the tallest palm tree in the world. Wax palms grow wild in Cocora Valley, Colombia but are rarely found anywhere else in the world.

The trees have dark green leaves and gray trunks. The stalk of a leaf can grow to 6.6 feet in length. The wax palm received its name because the trunk has a wax coat. It takes an extremely long time to grow. The trees generally live in sandy soils at a high altitude.

The wax palm is on the verge of extinction due to humans stripping the trunks for wax which they used to make candles. The durable trunks were also used for houses. A law protecting the remaining wax palms was enacted in Columbia in 1985.