Fort Myers Florida Weekly

Our mighty palm trees

Deeply rooted in Florida’s history, ecology, tourism and landscaping industries, palms of all shapes, sizes and colors have made their way here over the years. Only 12 are native to the state.



JUST ANOTHER DAY in paradise,” people sometimes say in South Florida. Palm trees, perhaps second only to seaside sunsets, are the unofficial symbol of that idea of paradise, one that clashes with impoverished and working class neighborhoods and adds cachet to upscale resorts and shopping malls. From squat, scrubby bushes to elegantly slender trunks crowned with Beatles boyband mop tops shimmering in the sun, they are the ubiquitous plant that defines our subtropic landscapes as much as any other.

“At nighttime when you see that sunset and it’s just gorgeous and you have that silhouette of a palm tree in the sky, it does make you feel like you’re someplace exotic for sure,” said Debbie Hughes, senior horticulturalist at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.

“At nighttime when you see that sunset and it’s just gorgeous and you have that silhouette of a palm tree in the sky, it does make you feel like you’re someplace exotic for sure.” — Debbie Hughes, senior horticulturalist at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers

“At nighttime when you see that sunset and it’s just gorgeous and you have that silhouette of a palm tree in the sky, it does make you feel like you’re someplace exotic for sure.” — Debbie Hughes, senior horticulturalist at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers

Though hundreds of exotic palms have been imported to Florida, only a dozen are native to the state, including sabal or cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto), the official state tree. Its hearts were once often used to make swamp cabbage, a traditional Seminole Indian and old Florida vegetable. The Miami palm (Sabal miamiensis) may already be extinct in the wild while the shrubby saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) is as common as a weed, its berries or drupes providing food for hundreds of species of wildlife as well as a common remedy to treat an enlarged prostate and other conditions.

 

Out-of-state varieties includes coconut palms (Cocos nucifera), which may be native to Asia, though exact origin is unknown. At least a few dozen exotic palm varieties are grown in nurseries and used in landscaping; $592 million worth of palms and tropical foliage grown in the Sunshine State were sold in 2015, a University of Florida study found.

BAHDER

BAHDER

“In the cities and urban areas we see primarily ornamental palms planted,” said Brian Bahder, an assistant professor specializing in insect vector technology with the University of Florida/IFAS in Davie. “But in the Everglades and in a lot of the natural habitat we have a handful of native species of palm that are just as beautiful (and) since they’re native here they’re an important species from an ecological standpoint.”

Paurotis Palm Acoelorrhaphe wrightii

Paurotis Palm Acoelorrhaphe wrightii

They are also an indelible part of our past. The Historical Society of Palm Beach County recounts the history of the Spanish brig Providencia, which in 1878 wrecked on the shore of what is now the town of Palm Beach, home to the many-palmed Mar-a-Lago resort. The ship’s cargo of coconuts spawned new palms and gave both the county and city their names.

On the southwest coast, Fort Myers’ nickname “City of Palms” is rooted in the towering royal palms (Roystonea regia) planted along McGregor Boulevard, their smooth, majestic trunks like freshly-poured concrete. Thomas and Mina Edison were responsible for their first planting along what was then a cattle trail. After 1906, the Edisons paid for the palms to be planted along about a half-mile stretch starting at their winter estate, and the city agreed to care for them in perpetuity, explained Ms. Hughes with the Edison & Ford Estates. The city has since planted many more, further out along McGregor, and replaced others lost in time.

Silver Palm Coccothrinax argentata

Silver Palm Coccothrinax argentata

“We probably have a couple that are still I would say originals so that means they’re over 100 years old,” Ms. Hughes said. “There’s quite a few new ones, of course, because of disease or old age or cars hit them.”

Buccaneer Palm Pseudophonix sergentii

Buccaneer Palm Pseudophonix sergentii

One of the most serious diseases to affect palms in recent years is called Texas Phoenix Palm Decline, ravaging a handful of Phoenix varieties including Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis) and the state tree, the cabbage palm.

First discovered in Florida in 2006 in the central coastal region from Sarasota to Tampa, it is a fatal, systemic disease caused by bacteria spread by a still unknown insect vector. Since then, it has spread to at least 22 counties in the state, including Lee, Charlotte and Palm Beach.

Needle Palm Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Needle Palm Rhapidophyllum hystrix

“It seems that the Phoenix palms are the most susceptible and those are the high value trees and those are the ones that the state (is) planting along the highways,” said Dr. Bahder. “Unfortunately, it’s one of the prettier palms but it’s highly susceptible.”

“It’s predominantly in the central part of the state but it is moving further north and further south, slowly creeping in those directions,” Dr. Bahder said.

He is working to identify the vector, collecting insects from the trees when there is a known outbreak and trying to identify which one is spreading the disease. There is currently a short list of five or six candidates. He expects to pinpoint which is the vector over the next few years and help create management strategies so the disease is “not causing significant economic loss or significant ecological damage.”

Royal Palm Roystonea regia

Royal Palm Roystonea regia

While palms are often referred to as “trees,” they are monocots instead of dicots, making them closer in nature to a grass.

“It’s not a grass, and it’s not a tree either,” said Stephen Brown, horticulture extension agent with the University of Florida/IFAS in Lee County. “So when you say ‘palm tree,’ it’s a misnomer; it’s actually just ‘palm.’”

Scrub Palmetto Sabal etonia

Scrub Palmetto Sabal etonia

Similar to grasses, palms have a fibrous root system like a thick, matted carpet and parallel instead of crisscrossing leaf veins, said Larry Noblick, palm biologist at Montgomery Botanical Center in Miami.

“I kind of like to think of palms as being like grasses on steroids, but they are really in a different family altogether,” he said.

Their grass-like root system is also one of the features that helps make them naturally resistant to hurricaneforce winds.

“They have a fanning root system that radiates out from the center, and then they’re also limber,” said Joel Crippen, horticulturalist with Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach. “Now some palms, like a royal palm, aren’t limber at all and it has a mechanism where it will abort the fronds in high winds. Usually the only times you’ll see a palm go over is if the ground gets super saturated and soggy.”

Miami Palm Sabal miamiensis

Miami Palm Sabal miamiensis

Edwin Everham, a professor of marine and ecological sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University, studied roughly 1,200 sabal palms in the wild after Hurricane Charley in 2004. He found that less than 2 percent had been killed by the storm.

“The fronds from the palms will get shed in high wind almost like they’re being pruned by the wind and that then leaves them with a bare trunk that’s pretty resistant to the wind,” he said.

Dwarf Palmetto Sabal minor

Dwarf Palmetto Sabal minor

Although the total number of palm types worldwide is “kind of controversial,” biologist Mr. Noblick said, he estimates there are around 2,800.

One of the rarest, Copernicia ekmanii, which are endemic to Haiti, can be found at Naples Botanical Garden. It is disappearing in Haiti amid natural disasters and deforestation.

“It to me is just the most elegant palm,” said the garden’s vice president of horticulture, Brian Galligan. “That is one we really want to go to Haiti and collect more of.”

Cabbage or Sabal Palm Sabal palmetto

Cabbage or Sabal Palm Sabal palmetto

Saw Palmetto Serenoa repens

Saw Palmetto Serenoa repens

Key Thatch Palm Thrinax morrisii

Key Thatch Palm Thrinax morrisii

Florida Thatch Palm Thrinax radiate

Florida Thatch Palm Thrinax radiate

SOURCES: EDWIN M. EVERHAM, FGCU; STEPHEN BROWN, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA/IFAS, USDA, FLORIDA-PALM-TREES.COM FLORIDA WEEKLY GRAPHICS

SOURCES: EDWIN M. EVERHAM, FGCU; STEPHEN BROWN, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA/IFAS, USDA, FLORIDA-PALM-TREES.COM FLORIDA WEEKLY GRAPHICS

Sunrise on Palm Beach Island. COURTESY PHOTO

Sunrise on Palm Beach Island. COURTESY PHOTO

“I kind of like to think of palms as being like grasses on steroids, but they are really in a different family altogether.” — Larry Noblick, palm biologist atMontgomery Botanical Center in Miami

“I kind of like to think of palms as being like grasses on steroids, but they are really in a different family altogether.” — Larry Noblick, palm biologist at Montgomery Botanical Center in Miami

 

2 responses to “Our mighty palm trees”

  1. brandon Hall says:

    Awesome write up. I am obsessed with all things palm trees myself, ever since going to Cancun when I was 18 haha. I am old now lol but I made my own website on palm trees and hopefully you do not mind IF I link it here? It is all about palm trees also!

    Let me know if that is ok. Thanks so much either way for the great write up.

    https:www.allaboutpalmtrees.com
    www.ctpalmtrees.com

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