Palm Peas for IPS

Hello palm enthusiasts at The International Palm Society forum. One of their members got lost in the view at Kalawao and shared it with the folks there. Some of them have been visiting the blog so I thought I would try and really get their juices flowing with an intimate look at a Thatch Palm.

It is also called a Peaberry Palm which I did not know until just now because of the small size of the fruit. I like the fruit when they are ripening because of the changing multi-colored display it puts on.


















For a relatively small single trunked palm, the inflorescence of pea sized fruit is quite impressive. The flower starts out as a three to four foot long wispy cotton candy looking thing. It is off white with a touch of yellow cream and loaded with pollen.


















In order to properly display the generous crop of fruits I have to remove the lower dead fronds which remain attached unless you cut them off.


















This is a great palm for the teeny tiny yards that surround most new home construction here. It is fairly slow growing so it will remain in human scale for quite some time before approaching its mature height of about thirty feet. It has a very slender trunk and the deeply dissected segments of the leaf give it a very attractive outline.

There are not any thorns on the petiole which is a big plus in my book. Planted small it can work as a shrub for many years before developing a tall trunk with a more petite and airy look than the palmetto palms, Sabal minor of Florida and the southeast.










I just love the frond on this palm and this is one of my favorite images.

I have identified the Thatch Palm that sprouted from seed in my garden many years ago from a palm that was moved and died when the deck on the main house was rebuilt as Thrinax excelsa. Since then I have propagated hundreds more from this palm. If anyone from the ISP thinks I could be wrong on the species do not hesitate to let me know.