Palm trees enhance the look of your garden and are beneficial in other ways too. You just need to ascertain whether the climate conditions are good enough for growing palm trees or not. There are around 2600 species of palm trees found all over the world. There are many ways to distinguish the different palm tree types regarding their trunks, height, stems, growth rate and numerous other factors.
Though palm trees are grown in warm countries and mostly are date palms or coconut palms, some palm trees can also be grown in cold regions, and some can also be grown indoors. Palm tree lights can be great for decoration and can be done in any species. This plant belongs to the Arecaceae family and is an evergreen plant appropriate for any place you want to keep depending on the species. This article will help you understand the different aspects of palm trees to evaluate whether to buy them.
Why should you Plant Palm Trees?
People sometimes wonder why they should plant palm trees and not some other trees. Having a palm tree can provide you with ample benefits that you may not know. Let’s discuss some of the benefits you can derive from palm trees.
- The first and foremost thing you will get from a palm tree is the palm oil extracted from the palm tree fruit. This oil is primarily used for cooking and industrial manufacturing items like soaps, cosmetics, lubricants, toothpaste waxes, and inks.
- Planks or wood can also be made from the stem of a palm tree that can be used to make buildings.
- Palm wine is quite popular in Africa and is also known for its numerous health benefits. It can promote lactation and help get healthy skin, hair and nails. It also helps to increase eyesight and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is also found potent in fighting deadly diseases like cancer.
- Even palm tree leaves are great for making brooms to help people sweep their homes.
- The frond stall is great for making roofs.
- The fibre obtained from the palm tree leaves is now used for making articles like baskets, hats, mats, etc.
Some Interesting Facts about Palm Trees
There are various facts about a palm tree that are quite interesting and informative. Let’s see some of those.
- Some palm trees can reach heights of 70 feet or more. Quindio wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense) is the tallest species in palm trees, and this plant can reach 160-200 feet in height.
- Depending on the species of the palm tree grown by you, some palm trees can live for more than a century. That means that the palm trees you plant may live longer than you.
- As the palm tree grows, it can be transplanted from a container to a sunny place, making it a wonderful patio plant. Make sure you have the right soil for this particular patio tree, along with a container large enough to let it breathe and grow.
- Young palms prefer shade, and most varieties provide shade when fully grown. Planting new palms under the canopy of other trees helps protect their delicate leaves.
- Palm leaf trimming is part of what keeps pruners busy all year round, but it can lead to mishaps as it is a deadly task. Deaths occur when pruning scissors choke the leaves done by the workers, and plants die.
- Many palm fruits, such as coconut and date palm, are delicious. Others, like sago, are toxic for humans as well as animals.
How can we identify the Palm Tree?
It’s not very difficult to identify a palm tree because of its look. But still, some factors help you identify palm tree types. The distinguishing features of palm trees are their leaves, stems, height and growth rate, and stems.
1. Identify a palm tree by its trunk.
One thing that sets the palm tree apart from other plants is its unbranched stem with clusters of leaves at the top or sides of the stem. The dense and large leaves on the stem of the palm trees are the most common identifying feature.
2. Examine the leaves.
The best way to start sorting your palm tree is based on identifying leaves. Some palm trees have feather-shaped leaves, while others have fan-shaped leaves. Both types of leaves can range from green to blue-green to silver.
3. Check the tree for fruit.
Palm trees are often associated with the tropics, but this is not necessarily the case with palm tree fruit. The coconut, acai, and betel nut are all derived from the palm tree, so if you find any of these, you can be sure you’ve found the palm tree.
4. Take a close look at the tree trunk.
Palms have a single stem or may have multiple trunks, appearing as a group of trunks woven together. As a rule, multi-stemmed trees are shorter
in height when compared to others of the same class and have a longer maturation period. Popular varieties with multiple stem palm trees are Needle Palm, Lady Palm and Areca Palm. They often look more like shrubs than tall, slender trees. The coconut or date palm has a single stem and is much taller than the shorter shrubs.
5. Identify the flowers on the tree.
Palms are distinguished by their very discreet flowers, which are often yellow-green to pale green, and they often grow in clusters along with the stem.
6. Estimate the size of the tree.
Once you have understood the other distinguishing features of palm trees, such as leaves and stems, you can use tree pruning to study further the possibilities of being of a different class of a palm tree. To distinguish one variety from another, the plant needs to be mature. When the palms are only a few months old, they are all the same in terms of looks.
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What are the Different Types of Palm Trees We Can See?
Among the 2600 types of palm trees found globally, let’s talk about the most prominent 10 types.
1. Cat palm (Chamaedorea catal fractal)
Due to its small size, cat palm can be nurtured indoors. The cat palm is a little palm plant with delicate feather-shaped dark green leaves on narrow stems that rise straight from the ground. This stemless palm is 2m outdoors, 3ft outdoors and 1m tall indoors. Over time, the firm palms form dense bushes of shiny, thin leaflets. Palm tree lights will look superb on these.
2. Dwarf Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
Dwarf Date Palm is a cultivated species of palm with a thorny trunk. As the common name conveys, dwarf dates are dwarf palms. It is a conventional plant from palm species of the Arecaceae family, less than 3 m in height. A single trunk can recognize small palms with long, bushy feather-like leaves, about 1 m long.
3. Pinned Palm (Butia capitata)
Pinned palm, also recognized as jelly palm, is a frost-resistant type of palm. A grown-up palm tree can reach 15-20 feet (4.5-6 m) in height but is a slow-growing palm tree. This means that it is desirable for gardens that need small palm trees. These short palms thrive in full sun or partial shade and are resistant to most soil types, ideal for garden purposes.
4. Triangle Palm (Dypsis decaryi)
Triangle Palm is a common name for Dypsis decaryi palm, which relates to small and medium-sized palms. Triangular palms can be identified by the lengthy feather-type leaves extending up to 2.5 m. The fascinating thing about the leaves is that they point at 120 degrees and the leaves are triangular in cross-section.
5. Mediterranean Dwarf Palm (Chamaerops humilis)
This flowering palm seed, also recognized as the European fan palm, is a small palm tree. The Mediterranean dwarf palms (Chamaerops humilis) have several truss-like trunks that look more like shrubs than tree trunks. In warm climates, this small palm seed matures and gains a height of 2-5 m. Palm leaves are light green to silvery green and expand fan-shaped.
6. Christmas Palm (Adonidia merrillii)
If you are looking for a miniature palm tree in your garden, the Christmas palm tree (Adonidia merrillii) is the nicest choice. This ornamental palm is smaller than other tall coconuts and dates. According to some reports, the Christmas palm tree is one of the most popular ornamental palm species.
7. Bottle Palm Tree (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis)
The small decorative Bottle palm tree has a thick trunk which is the best way to identify it. The Bottle Palm tree obtains its name from the bottle-like form of the heavy trunk. The strategy to figure out this small palm tree type is the enlarged trunk that appears swollen on the base. This facilitates distinguishing this palm species from the Spindle palm, which swells in the centre of the heavy trunk.
8. Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta)
The Sago’s palm isn’t always a real kind of palm tree. Although the Cycas revoluta is known as the Sago’s palm, it isn’t always a real sort of conventional palm tree. The Sago’s palm belongs to its circle of relatives, Cycadaceae, which might also additionally appear to be a palm but is botanically different. This `palm` is recognized through its unique trunk and fern-like new leaves.
9. Florida Royal Palm (Roystonea regia)
The Florida royal palm tree is recognized through a clean, erect and light trunk and furry crown. The Florida royal palm is an imposing palm tree with a tall, clean, quite thin grey-white trunk, a beautiful crown of arching darkish inexperienced fronds, and rounded purple or purplish-black palm fruits. The distinctive features of this royal palm tree are its clean green crownshaft, bulging stem base, and erect trunk developing sixty-five to one hundred ft. (20 – 30 m) tall.
10. Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana)
The queen palm is a fast-developing tree, and it grows as soon as planted in any warm season, developing to 6 ft 12 months after it’s planted, relying on the ground. The single-trunk queen palm tree is regularly utilized in landscapes to enhance the beauty and at some points of tropical and subtropical landscapes like Southern California and South Florida. It gives sedation when it attains the age of 12 months. Plumes of the queen palm tree are produced during the summer season, and clusters of orange fruit are visible, forming at the start of winter.
