Month: February 2021

Fewer Palms for Miami Beach? Sounds Shady!

Yes, I saw the Martin Vassolo article in the Miami Herald: DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, MIAMI BEACH MOVING AWAY FROM PALM TREES TO CREATE MORE SHADE. And there’s somewhat derivative article in The Guardian MIAMI BEACH TO CUT BACK ON FAMOUS PALM TREES OVER CLIMATE CONCERNS.

There are many reasons to not plant palms in urban areas. Coconuts are a liability due to the damage posed by those darn falling coconuts. As a result they require frequent pruning to avoid creating risk. Royal palms are self-cleaning, but their fronds are enormous and could also be problematic if they hit someone. Chinese fan palms have fronds with saw teeth a shark would envy. And the date palms have long spines on their fronds that can send people to the emergency room. If OSHA regulated Phoenix (date) palms, they might be illegal. And this relatively new disease, Lethal Bronzing, can kill expensive Sylvester palms and cabbage palms alike.

But don’t tell me a City is cutting back on palms because they don’t produce shade.

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Using Mammals to Improve Sabal Palm Germination

Thinking of growing cabbage palms from seed? You might consider following in the wake of some raccoons. Many animals seem to love cabbage palm fruits, and raccoons in particular seem fond of entire meals of nothing but cabbage palm fruits. The seeds pass through undigested and you can often find small piles of seeds after the raccoon’s digestive system is done with them.

While the raccoons enjoy the fruit, tiny bruchid beetles enjoy the seeds. Kyle Brown found extensive predation on cabbage palm fruit by these extremely small beetles and this has been confirmed by other researchers.

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Cabbage palms: the insidious, surreptitious, cuckoos of the Florida retail landscape

This post complements Chapter 9 Cabbage Palms in the Landscape in my book, The Palmetto Book: Histories and Mysteries of the Cabbage Palm, published by the University of Florida Press.

How are cabbage palms analogous to cuckoos? Their sneaky strategy for survival.

Eurasion reed warbler raising a common cuckoo. Photo by Per Harald Olson from Wikimedia commons

Cuckoos lay their eggs in other bird’s nests unnoticed and then the unsuspecting parents accept the interloper. That’s pretty much what cabbage palms are all about in parking lots and various retail landscapes. This morning I encountered a great example at Home Depot.

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Princess Place Preserve

This post complements Chapter 20. Palm Abodes in my book, The Palmetto Book: Histories and Mysteries of the Cabbage Palm, published by the University of Florida Press.

If you ever get to Flagler County, be sure to visit the Princess Place Preserve. It’s a little out of the way, but that’s a good thing.

There are several cabbage palm occurrences you’ll want to check out.

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