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Royal Palm (Palm Family) – July

Roystonea regia, Arecaceae
Origin: Florida, Mexico, Central America, and the Carribean

Roystonea-regia-colony-320Royal palms are the tallest palms native to Florida, and really stand out with their massive and smooth white trunks. Found in the warmer and wetter parts of our state, Roystonea regia is right at home in a blackwater swamp.  The palms are self-cleaning, making them particularly attractive and popular in landscapes which can accommodate their size. They are salt and flood tolerant, and make a great choice for coastal locations in need of a large specimen palm. The stem, which can reach thirty meters (nearly 100 ft) in some cases and looks like it’s made of poured concrete, turns into a brief green and white ringed section, before reaching the deep green crownshaft and pinnate fronds which can grow up to 4 meters long. The flowers are typical of the family; small white flowers held by the hundreds on a long inflorescence.

Palms are plants in the family Arecaceae, formerly known as “Palmae.” While the term “palm tree” has crept into the popular lexicon, most palm experts studiously avoid using the word “tree” when describing them since “tree” can be defined as “plants with a main stem that branches” which excludes nearly all palms.” “Tree” is actually more of a vernacular term rather than a scientific one. Instead, they refer to them as “treelike” or “arborescent,” or simply as “palms.” Or, they revert to lengthy descriptive terms such as the following from what is perhaps the most scholarly work on palms (Genera Palmarum by Natalie Uhl and Robert Dransfield, Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas). “Small, medium-sized, or large, solitary or clustered, armed or unarmed, haxanthic or pleonanthic, hermaphroditic, polygamous, monoecious, or dioecious plants. Stems “woody,” slender to massive…” We could go on… but, a palm is a palm by any other name.

Many palms form an important part of forest canopies, growing to lofty heights and considerably changing the light conditions below them.  They provide shelter for small animals, especially birds and bats, and in many cases are good hosts for epiphytes. They also provide fruits and other products to humans, including building materials. Many homes in the tropics are made from palms.

Palms are monocots, and nearly all have a single apical growing point. Palms do not put on lateral growth, either, meaning that a palm’s stem does not thicken as it ages. They do not produce wood in the classical sense of their stems being composed of secondary xylem (the stuff that makes wood hard), but are widely used in construction in the tropics and subtropics.  Perhaps most important to the health of the plant, palms do not compartmentalize. Compartmentalization is a process which dicot trees use to “heal,” which involves essentially building a series of “walls” around the damaged part of the stem, sealing it off and limiting decay to that small area. Palms, when damaged, continue to decay until the wound is so large that it compromises the entire plant.

Palms are wonderful and unique plants which deserve respect and admiration. Check out our beautiful royal palms growing alongside our Tidal Lagoon at the north end of the Gardens.

Text by David Troxell and Bruce Holst