Darla Wotherspoon - Your Ultimate Palm Tree Handbook

YourUltimate Palm Tree Handbook

Createa Paradise with Palms

Author: Darla Wotherspoon

SmashwordsEdition, License Notes

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Table ofContents

What comes to mind when you think about palm trees?That image in your mind may change depending on which part of theworld you originate from.

If you are from adesert region they may mean life saving food and water. Theyre anoasis amidst all the sand dunes.

Many places on theplanet look at palm trees as providing many of the things they needfor day to day living. Indigenous peoples use them for everythingfrom food and shelter, to wine, clothing and jewelry.

Over centuriesthere have developed just about as many uses of these trees asthere are varieties. With around 2600 species in this plant familyI couldnt even begin to cover them all.

If you are fromNorth America and various parts of Europe then the overwhelmingmajority look at palms as a symbol of the tropical paradisegetaway.

Visions of whitesand beaches with a gentle ocean breeze rustling through theirleaves often provide us a sense of calm and relaxation.

Why onlyvisualize? Why not bring some of those feelings into our day today living?

By displaying palmtrees in our landscapes, on our patios, in the corners of ourfamily rooms and lobbies we wont have to imagine. We can bringthat feeling of paradise wherever we put them.

This book iswritten to assist you in the choice of specimen and how to pick theperfect placement. Beneficial growing conditions, care instructionsand diagnosing possible problems that may arise are allincluded.

So what exactly isa palm tree? Some say it should be classified as a grass, other sayit should be classed as a tree. We arent going to debate. Illjust tell you whats been decided so far.

All palms areactually a member of the arecaceae group of flowering plants andtrees. They are considered evergreen as they dont shed theirleaves on a seasonal basis.

Before we move onIll give you a few fun palm tree facts.

The coco de merpalm produces the worlds largest seed weighing in at an amazing 50lbs and close to a foot across.

The raffia palmhas the worlds largest single leaf getting up to an incredible 80feet long.

All rattanfurniture is made from the rattan palm that presents like a vineand not like a tree at all.

The tallest palm Ibelieve is the Columbian wax palm with specimens reaching up to 300feet tall.

The Mexican andCalifornia fan palms can live upwards of 250 years or more.

Palm trees havebeen around since the dinosaurs roamed the planet and althoughthere have been some extinctions there are also new species beingdiscovered all the time.

Before we get tothe landscaping know how of creating a paradise with palms, letslook at the various characteristics of the tree that will assist usin making an accurate identification of type.

Sometimes making anaccurate palm tree identification can be challenging andconfusing.

It is much easierif you know what to look for.

Here is where Illbreak down all the different characteristics to guide you.

The factors toconsider are:

>leaves

>presence ofcrownshaft

>trunk, overallsize,

>flowers andfruit,

>growingconditions, location, and

>is a clumpingor singular variety.

Leaves are a greatway to start to narrow down your palm tree identification.

Are the leavesfeather shaped- pinnate, or fan shaped- palmate?

If they arebi-pinnate then it is automatically one of the fishtailvarieties.

Easy to tellanyway... their leaves look like their name implies.

Are there anyspines on the leaf stems? If so where are they, how long and whatcolor? Are they only on the new growth leaves or on all?

If feather shapeddo the segments present horizontally from the leaf stem evenly, ordo they present a twist? What shape are they?

Do they all growstraight out of the leaf stem like with the coconut palm or do theyseem to alternate their growth up and down giving a more ruffledappearance like the foxtail palm?

How do they growout of the tree? In a straight up presentations like the triangleand bottle palm, or do they come out more flat? Are the leavesthemselves arching?

How wide and longare they? What is their color? These are all important keys.

If the tree has afan shaped leaf are they circular or semi-circular?

Are the segmentedat all? Some are only a bit others quite a bit. If divided how deepinto the leaf center do the segments go- half way, 2/3 or 3/4?

Are the segmentsstiff or soft and hanging? Examples: stiff- Bismarck palm, floppy-Chinese fan palm.

What color arethey on both the top side and underside? How large across arethey?

Trunks can play avery important part of your palm tree identification.

First and foremostis: does it even have an above ground trunk? Some palms grow theirtrunks more underground than above.

What color is thetrunk? Is it smooth or rough?

What kind ofpattern is left in it from the old leaves? Examples are circular,semi circular, diamond shaped or other pattern. Are they tight knitand close or further apart?

Does it have oldleaf bases stuck to it? Does it shed the leaves on its own or doesit require pruning?

What about thepresence of fibers. What color and consistency are they? Are they,matted, woven or stringy?

Are there needlesor spines on the trunk or old leaf bases? How long, what color andwhere they are growing from are all factors.

What is thediameter and thickness of the trunk? Is it a single trunk varietyor a clumping variety?

Is there a bulgeand if so where, bottom, middle top? How much of one?

Is there acrownshaft? On some palms the leaf stems actually attach to asection of the trunk by a crownshaft that wraps around thetrunk

A good example:the royal palm has a crownshaft but the coconut palm does not.

What color is thecrownshaft? There are a variety of colors. How long is it down thetrunk? Some are 1-2 feet others 4 plus feet long.

Once the tree hasflowered does it get fruit where the flowers were?

Some trees aremale and some femaleas with the date palms. Then only the femaleswill bear fruit after cross pollination with a male by MotherNature.