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Palms and Sagos
**Bamboo
Palm Tree, Areca Chrysalidocarpus lutescens or Chamaedorea
seifrizii or Chamaedorea erumpens  This is a lovely clumping type of palm whose one and a half to two inch thick stems look much like bamboo. It grows to be between fifteen and thirty feet tall and is just about as wide as it is tall when fully grown. You can also plant the stems individually, but they seem less interesting and lonely planted that way. From: Central America Planting and Care: We have seen them growing in full sun and light shade. Our small one is growing pretty much in full shade and is beautiful. They are said to like a moist soil, but we have not found ours to be particularly picky; it survived a long drought this year with no apparent damage. As they mature, they are said to become more hardy. Text and Photographs Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2008 |
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 **Cabbage
Palm Tree, Christmas Palm Roystonea oleracea or Veitchia
merrilli or Adonidia merrilliThis tree is the tallest member of the palm family. It has frothy leaves and red berry clusters. The cabbage palm grows pretty slowly relative to everything else in the garden. Even at its happiest with the right soil, water and sun it is SLOW. Maybe the reason is the amount of tree trash it produces as surely that takes up a lot of energy.  We
have continual leaf dropping, elaborate flower bearing stems and
the seed bearing red berries you can see in the photo to the left.
Each berry surrounds one seed and thousands are produced each year.
The tree makes a great effort to do this, despite the fact that each
of the
seeds in the berries seems viable and ready to grow with no encouragement.
This is a beautiful tree that expends great effort to insure its
future.Planting and Care: Our experience with these trees is that they prefer full sun, a rich soil and routine rainfall or watering to be at their best. If they find themselves growing in less advantageous situations, they grow more slowly and look sort of peaked. The photograph to the right shows what can happen to these palms in a strong tropical storm with high winds. Aptly, the damage done is called wind burn and there is nothing you can do about it but wait for the damaged leaves to be gradually replaced. Gardening Suggestion: If you have one or more of these lovely trees, think about cutting off the flower stems before they fruit and drop seeds. It will save you hours of clean up or weeding later. |
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 **Coconut
Palm Tree Cocos nuciferaOur old favorite. New trees will usually begin bearing in three to five years and will eventually reach from forty to sixty feet tall. We have one great old tree which always seems to be covered in unreachable nuts and several smaller trees. Benefits: When opened and sun dried, coconuts form a material called copra which is the source of coconut oil used in cooking and in making soap (see the recipe below for making coconut oil). Diseases: The truly disastrous disease called lethal yellowing has killed coconut palms all the way from Miami to Mexico and the Caribbean. There are some reasonably effective though laborious treatments, but there is no real cure. The only alternative is to plant dwarf varieties which are immune, but no where near as attractive or as productive of coconuts. Malpan is one very disease resistant variety. Fruit: Immature coconuts are the source of coconut water. Planting and Care: Give a fertilizer to the coconut palm only in the spring. Recipe: Coconut Oil 1. Husk old coconuts that have no liquid inside (give the coconut a shake to hear weather there is liquid inside). Grate them or put them through a food grinder and let the coconut soak in water to cover for about a day. 2. Drain the grated coconut, saving the water. Squeeze the grated coconut as hard as you can saving the milk to mix with the saved water. Let it sit a while and then gently put this mixed liquid in the refrigerator overnight. In the cool air the coconut oil will rise to the top of the water forming a "cake." 3. Remove the cake and heat it on the stove to a gentle boil to remove all of the water that may remain. As this process goes on the oil will become very clear. Being careful to keep the oil at a simmer (coconut oil has a low boiling point) be sure that all of the water is gone and then cook it a little more. Water left in the oil will very much reduce its useful life. Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008 |
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| Date
Palm Tree Phoenix
dactylifera This is one of those wonderful plants that mirrors the best of our humanity. To bear fruit, the date palm requires a male and female tree in relatively close proximity. On the Greek island of Naxos we stopped in a small coastal town for a night. Behind our lovely hotel were several fruit laden lemon trees and many artichoke plants. In the front of our room was a lovely windowed balcony overlooking the sea beside two beautiful date palms. We spoke with the older owners and with their son who happened to be visiting that weekend and learned of the male and female relationship of the date palm. Text Copyrighted © KO 2007 |
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| Dwarf
Coconut Palm Tree Given to us in 2003 by our friend Roots in Montserrat, it was lost to the island's drought in 2007. Diseases: The dwarf coconut is resistant to the lethal yellowing disease that has caused the destruction of so many coconut plantations in the Caribbean, Mexico and elsewhere. The dwarf coconut may prove our only option though it is no where near as majestic as the real thing. Yield: You can expect the dwarf coconut to bear fruit four years after it is planted. Text Copyrighted © KO 2008 |
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| Peach
Palm Bactis gasipaes This is a palm used for palm hearts and for its extremely nutricious small fruits. |
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FAN PALMS This is an ever expanding group of palms that I am currently at a complete loss to identify apart from including them in the group. Except for enjoying the photographs of these wonderful trees, you may think of this category of palms as "under construction" and get back to it later. If you have any help to offer I would be very grateful to hear from you. |
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| European
Fan Palm Chamaerops humilis This is a slow growin rather small variety of palm; it grows to be only about 10 feet tall. From: Areas around the Mediterranean Photographed: In the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Planting and Care: This palm is relatively cold hardy, being able to handle frosts with no problem. In fact it doesn't grow well in hot climates. It prefers full sun and is pretty indiferent to soil quality. |
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Fan
Palm Mystery #4
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| Fan
Palm Mystery #7 Hint: This may be a Livistona chinensis from China. Photographed: In the Botanical Garden in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2011. Text Copyrighted ©KO 2011 |
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**Florida
Royal Palm, Cuban Royal Palm Roystonia elata  This
is our most magnificent palm. It is about sixty feet tall with
more than a foot thick smooth cement colored trunk. The debris
from this tree is significant, so when a frond falls we run!
The heavy fronds are more than twelve feet long. The characteristics
that distinguish the cabbage and royal palms are not particularly
easy to observe, but after seven years we finally did it. The
berries on a cabbage palm are red; on a royal palm they are a
dark purple. Though the trunks on these palms are similar in
color, the royal palm's is smoother. Regardless of which tree
you have growing, they are both wonderful. In truth, I'd have
to say I rather like the royal palm a bit better than the cabbage
palm (even its name sounds a little better, don't you think?).Photographed: Just above the shady terrace garden at our home in Montserrat Planting and Care: Capable of reaching seventy feet when full grown, this palm prefers fertile soil and lots of water to look its best along with an acid soil. Text and Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2008 |
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  Pacaya
Palm Tree Chamaedorea tepejiloteFrom: Central and Northern South America Photographed: At the Hotel San Buenaventura on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Planting and Care: Pacayas like to live in the shade, but will be tolerant of early morning or late afternoon sun. They like a fair amount of moisture on a regular basis and a slightly acid soil if they can get it. Text and Photographs Copyrighted ©KO 2010 |
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 Travelers
Palm Tree Ravenala madagascariensisThough not really a palm, the traveler is very appealing and looks more like a relative of the banana. From: Madagascar Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Planting and Care: I would say the most important consideration with a travelers palm is can you provide a wind free place in the garden. When the wind hits this stunning plant its leaves become shredded and very unattractive. Plant it in any soil with good drainage in a sunny or bright semi shady spot and it will delight you. Its only other requirement is routine rainfall or watering. Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010 |
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 Palm
Tree Mystery #1Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010 |
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Palm
Tree Mystery #4
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| **Umbrella Palm See the "U" Page -- UMBRELLA PALM | |
SAGO PALMS |
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 **Jamaica
Sago, Cardboard Palm, Scurfy Zamia, Cycad Zamia
furfuracea or Zamia pumilaThis plant is aptly named for its stiff cardboard like leaves, but it could as easily have a more charming name for its attractiveness. We first saw them growing in the gardens of the hotel where we were staying in Antigua in the West Indies. I came to a dead stop and fell in love. They are beautiful plants. From: Mexico through northern South America Photographed: In the herb garden at our home in Montserrat Planting and Care: This is a new plant in our garden and we'll have to see how it goes. According to one source, the Jamaica sago prefers an arid climate, but will do fine in one that is not if planted in a sunny area with good drainage. The second source recommended planting this sago in semi-shade and providing routine watering or rainfall to keep them happy. Update: So far we have to agree with the folks who recommended a dry setting. Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2008 |
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  Sago
Palm, Gnu Palm Cycas
revolutaThis sago is a squat, beautiful, dark-leaved very primitive palm and one of the oldest members of the palm family. Sadly, in the winter of 2007 our sago died from the white scale infestation that was so destructive to these marvelous trees. We do not use toxic pesticides and our soap sprays were not adequate to kill the scale during the six months we are on island. In our absence the scale got a great leg up and we had no luck getting it back under control when we returned. Benefits: Ours doesn't seem to give fruit, but they are said to be very similar in flavor to coconuts and are eaten the same way. From: Sagos are native to S. Japan. Also see the Mexican Cycad Dioon edule. Photographed: The photograph on the above right was taken in our garden at our home in Montserrat in 2005. The photograph of new leaves emerging was taken at the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 2010. Planting and Care: The sago thrives in full sun and likes the rain. Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2005/2008/2010 |
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**Fan
Palm, Lankan Palm Lantana litigious or Copernica baileyana
Fan
Palm Mystery #1
Fan
Palm Mystery #2
Fan
Palm Mystery #3
Fan
Palm Mystery #5
Fan
Palm Mystery #6
**Fish
Tail Palm Caryota mitis
Pineapple Palm
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