Many people want to create a tropical garden or have a home palm tree in the house. To grow palm tree at home, you need to create native tropical conditions and be patient. The majestic tree has been growing for several decades.
The variety of species, sizes and varieties makes it difficult to choose what kind of house palm we want to get. Many grow quite quickly, grow to gigantic proportions and do not feel comfortable in a small apartment. Our article will help you to understand the variety and choose the right plant for home use.
Domestic palm tree: description
The palm tree is so named because of the bizarre shape of the leaves, which resemble a human palm. Not all species have this leaf shape, but they learned about this a little later.
The main characteristics of palm trees:
- Today, several thousand species of palm trees are known. Household representatives are much smaller.
- House palm is an unpretentious plant which grows slowly in indoor conditions. The homeland of the palm tree is the tropics and subtropics.
- The palm tree creates beauty and spectacular appearance with the help of leaves. They form a ball or circle of thin long leaves; some species have wide leaves. Removing green foliage is difficult for the plant. You shouldn't do this for no apparent reason.
- Home palm grows in large pots... As they grow, they increase the land space for development and growth. In a few years or even decades, a real tree will appear in the house. Under the foliage, you can arrange a tropical meadow for relaxation.
- The palm has a thick trunk and large spreading leaves at the top. The trunk is formed as the plant grows and the stems die off. At home, palms do not bear fruit. Due to the dryness and cool temperature, the fruits of the domestic palm tree do not form.
Many people confuse house palms with false representatives. False palms grow from lignified leaves.
False palms include:
- dracaena;
- yucca;
- pandanus;
- cordilin.
Dracaena
Pandanus
Cordilina
They resemble dwarf palms, which rarely grow more than 1 m.
Another plant looks like a house palm - spurge... Outwardly, it resembles a fancy palm tree. large sizes: On the top of the stem, there are broad green leaves with a red border. In fact, it is a succulent and has nothing to do with a palm tree.
Real palms form home flower beds. Some species have many leaf-stems with a large fan. These house flowers in the form of palm trees are popular with tropical plant lovers. To prevent the branches from falling apart, they are tied up, forming a "bouquet".
Varieties of home palm
All palms are divided into 2 large groups: fan and feathery. Distinguished by the shape of the sheet.
Fan palms:
- coconut:
- banana:
- date.
Typical representatives of the pinnate palm are hamerops or trachicaprus. Some palms are short, like the pineapple palm and fancy flowers, like the caryote palm. Combines domestic palms - unpretentiousness to growing conditions and soil composition.
Below is a catalog of decorative indoor palms with photos and descriptions.
Date
This is one of the most common types of domesticated palms:
- Refers to the type of pinnate: a thick trunk and a fan of leaves at the top.
- As they grow, the leaves die off and the plant grows in height.
- The family includes more than 20 species.
- The birthplace of the date is Africa, it has been known since the times of Mesopotamia.
More often, exotic lovers are grown from seeds. But unfortunately, after a few years they regret their deed: she grows up very quickly and rests against the ceiling of the apartment. It is impossible to make a palm tree bear fruit from a seed. It bears fruit after many years in nature and maintaining the required temperature. Does not require special care: moderate watering and constant temperature, is afraid of drafts and cold windows in winter.
Date palm Hovea
The origin of the species is the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Grows up to 2 meters at home. Refers to the feathery species. The trunk is formed at a fairly "mature" age. The leaves grow straight from the roots, forming a giant cap. Unpretentious and undemanding to care for, tolerates a lack of light and aridity. Prefers window sills, balconies and other light and warm places.
Hovea Livistona
It is fanned out. On the stem, thin leaves form a circle with a cut to the middle. Domestic species grow up to 1.5 m. Homeland - South Asia, Australia and the islands. She likes a lot of light and constant temperatures. A drop in temperature to + 10 ℃ can ruin the plant. Propagated by seeds that form on the bottom of the leaf. Likes constant watering: every day or every other day.
Livistona Palm umbrella
Or Likuala. It also appeared in home greenhouses from the tropics. Spectacular leaves of enormous size look like a corrugated fan, the trunk is thin and low. Grows no more than 2 m. Demanding on moisture. Due to abundant watering, the roots can rot, which does not bother the house plant at all. You can get rid of this by sprinkling with alcohol.
Palm umbrella Hamedorea (Neanta)
It is called the bamboo palm from the rainforests of Yucatan and Mexico. The feathery leaves are elongated. The trunk is low, formed from dead stems. At home it grows in a few years up to 1.2 m. Demanding on light, but does not like direct sunlight. The optimum temperature is more than + 18 ℃. It also requires a lot of watering without stagnating water and drying out the soil.
Hamedorea Cat palm
Or cyperus only grows in Egypt. It was from him that the legendary papyrus was made. It forms thin, dark green stems straight from the ground. The leaves form umbrellas in several layers. The palm tree is loved by domestic cats, which is probably why it was given such a name. Like many members of the palm family, it requires light and moisture. It is important to maintain tropical temperatures.
Cat palm Dracaena
Refers to false palms that appeared at home from the tropics. There are several hundred species. Thin leaves are located on the top of the trunk. Some species have a red border on the foliage. It grows unpretentious. It tolerates drought, does not like direct sunlight and drafts.
"Palm" Dracaena Rapis
The tropical plant is classified as a fan-shaped plant. Wide, fan-shaped leaves with many cuts grow from a low trunk. At home, rapeseed is common, which grows up to 1.5 m.
Much attention must be paid to watering: it does not tolerate waterlogging and overdrying of the soil. Prefers high temperatures from + 20 ℃. In summer, in dry seasons, they arrange a shower of cool water.
Rapis Tsikas or sago palm
The homeland of the plant is India and the Polynesian islands. A short plant has a "pot-bellied" trunk, from which stems grow in several groups. It grows very slowly. Under ideal conditions, it adds only 3 cm per year. The foliage practically does not change, it has a dark green color.
Refers to feathery varieties. In care it requires direct sunlight for several hours, moderate watering and average temperatures. If the conditions are not met, it stagnates and does not grow.
Tsikas Areca
The palm tree is native to China and India. Of the few species, only a few are grown at home. There is no trunk. Stems are semicircular in shape, collected in bunches with wide leaves. Growing Areca is difficult.
A young plant up to 6 years of age does not experience sunburn, low temperatures and eventually dies. Requires light from all directions and moderate watering. The optimum temperature is + 35 ℃. It can grow up to 12 m in an apartment.
Areca Yucca
Refers to false palms native to the arid regions of Central America. A short shrub with a thick trunk with tough foliage at the top. The foliage is pointed in shape with hard hairs along the edges, the length of the leaf reaches half a meter.
Under good conditions, it will bloom: on a high stick from the center, a stem grows with many white flowers in shape. When leaving, it requires moderate watering: it dies in waterlogged soil and cold air. Tolerates dryness. Requires a sunny color and air temperature from + 20 ℃.
"Palm" Yucca Karyota
The variety is better known as fishtail. It got its name from the unusual foliage that resembles a fish tail. Indoor views grow small. Homeland - tropical forests of Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia.
The karyote has no trunk; stems with fancy leaves grow from the ground. Requires air humidity as in the tropics. Resistant to moderate watering, average air temperatures.
Karyota Chinese Livistona
The species grows naturally on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia. Have indoor plant no trunk. Grows rapidly due to fan-shaped leaves with many cuts. It grows in the shade, at low temperatures of + 16-18 ℃. But it does not tolerate dryness and prefers frequent spraying.
Chinese Livistona Chrysalidocarpus
Homeland - Madagascar and the islands of Oceania. At home, it grows several meters. Tall feathery leaves grow on thin trunks; it is impossible to make a palm tree bloom in an apartment. Tolerates low temperatures in apartments, moderate watering. He does not like drafts and a sharp drop in temperature.
Chrysalidocarpus Pandanus
Or the helical palm appeared in apartments from East Asia and Madagascar. Thick, feathery leaves form the trunk. As they die off, the trunk of the plant stiffens. Leaves of an adult plant with spiny thorns at the ends, which can be dangerous to children and animals.
In an adult plant, roots appear all over the trunk, forming bizarre shapes. It grows quickly and reaches several meters. Requires a lot of space and height. Undemanding in care.
"Palm" Pandanus Nolina
Or Bocarnea grows in the southern latitudes of North America. The people call the bottle palm for the bizarre shape of the trunk: at the base it has the shape of a ball, and the trunk resembles a bottle. At the top of the trunk, there are narrow feathery leaves. Sometimes confused with dracaena.
Requires full watering and no drafts. Undemanding to lighting, but foliage will be thicker and brighter in a sunny place.
Nolina Brigamia
Or the Hawaiian palm tree came to our apartments from the Hawaiian islands. At home, it grows up to 1 m. The amazing shape of the plant attracts attention: at the top of the thick fleshy trunk, wide leaves with a waxy bloom, reminiscent of cabbage, grow.
It blooms with amazing flowers of a simple form, light yellow color. They grow in the same way as leaves - from the top of the trunk, they receive an exotic bouquet. It stores a large amount of moisture in the trunk, therefore it tolerates droughts. Prefers high temperatures and no drafts.
Brigamia Washingtonia
Grows naturally in the deserts of the subtropics of the south of the North American continent. The cultivar prefers cool temperatures and bright lighting. It grows up to 20 m even at home. Fan-shaped hard leaves grow on a thick trunk.
The lower leaves die off to form a scaly trunk. Peduncles with 3 m stems appear on an adult plant. After flowering, small black berries are formed.
Washingtonia Madagascar palm
Or Pachypodium Lamer. An amazing plant resembles both a palm tree and a cactus up to 1.5 m high at home. The trunk is covered with needles and resembles a cactus. Long, narrow leaves are located at the top of the trunk. In winter, sheds the leaves.
It grows in Madagascar and is poisonous. Requires a lot of light, heat: up to + 30 ℃ in summer, at least + 15 ℃ in winter. Does not tolerate changing places and even turning the pot. Can shed leaves.
Madagascar palm Trachikarpus
The variety was found in the Himalayas, China and Japan. It grows slowly and tolerates negative temperatures. Belongs to the fan type. It grows as the lower leaves die off. At the top are large fan-shaped leaves with many cuts, the leaves are tough.
You cannot cut off the bottom sheets - this is how the palm tree takes everything useful material, and when the leaf is completely dry, it can be removed. Undemanding to care for: tolerates shade, frost, drought.
Trachikarpus Karlyudovika clawed
False palm. Thick leaves, reminiscent of palm trees, grow on the fleshy stem. Requires diffused light, moderate watering and no drafts. The homeland of the shrub is Panama. It is also called the Panama Palm.
Karlyudovka Spanish cryosophila
Not the most common type of palm tree at home. The homeland of growth is the tropics of Central America. A graceful single-stemmed plant with curved, feathery, fan-shaped leaves. Undemanding to light and watering. Does not tolerate excess salt in soil and water. Pest resistant.
Prerequisites for home palms
Each type of palm requires certain conditions: some need a lot of light, others cannot live without daily watering. However, there are general rules. With proper care and attention, the tropical beauty has been growing for more than a dozen years.
The average lifespan of palm trees at home is 15 years.
Consider the features of the content of decorative palms.
Priming
Lighting
Palm trees prefer diffused light. The sun's rays will harm the plant and leave burns that will kill the plant.
Expose the pot of house palm for several hours in direct sunlight, after the peak hours of solar activity. Some species prefer partial shade. In extreme cases, artificial lighting is used.
Temperature
A tropical plant prefers warm air temperatures from + 16 ℃ in winter to + 30 ℃ in summer.
Some species require cool overwintering. Observing the temperature regime, do not forget about drafts. Plants do not tolerate them.
And also it is necessary to monitor the temperature of the soil: if the roots are supercooled, the plant will die. Therefore, you should not put pots with a home palm on the windowsill and the cold floor. For many species, the temperature is destructive - + 10 ℃.
Air humidity
For many species, indoor humidity is important:
Palm trees are undemanding to care. Fulfillment of the necessary conditions for the comfortable growth of home-like palm trees will allow you to admire the beauty for many years.
General care rules
Let us examine the question of how to care for domestic palms.
Transfer
How are domesticated palms transplanted:
Reproduction
- Most varieties are propagated by seed only. This requires fresh seeds. After 3-4 years, the seed germinates poorly and takes a long time.
- Before sowing, the seeds are soaked in water for several days. changing the water daily.
- Plant in light soil with lots of sand. When several leaves appear on the palm, they are transplanted into a permanent pot with a diameter of no more than 9 cm.
- It is better not to use tall pots. TO the root system is strongly elongated.
- Some species reproduce vegetatively. To do this, separate the branch and sprinkle it with earth.
- You can plant the plant when transplanting. The root system is “torn apart” carefully and only after the new plant has its roots.
Top dressing
Domestic palms do not require frequent feeding. Due to the excess fertilizer, the plant will die.
The plant is rarely fed and only in spring and summer. If you transplant the plant every year, then feed it only in the second half of the year. During this period, fertilization in the soil ends. For feeding a palm tree, a universal fertilizer or flower fertilizer is suitable.
Pruning
Correct pruning rules:
- Many species do not require pruning. Palm trees grow slowly at home and are therefore pruned for aesthetic reasons only and dried foliage is removed.
- It is not necessary to trim slightly darkened or withered leaves. until the leaf is completely dry. So, it takes away all the nutrients.
- The rule that frequent pruning promotes rapid growth does not work with house palms. In some cases, even, on the contrary, will destroy the plant.
- Pruning to shorten the palm is possible as an adult. For this, clean and sharp instruments are used.
Never cut the crown off - this will cause the plant to die and not grow back.
Diseases and pests
With improper care and non-compliance with the conditions, the palm tree can hurt. Withering and drying of leaves, an unhealthy appearance are evidence of this. And also palm trees can "acquire" small pests.
The pests survive in the area and again settle on the palm tree, drinking the juices.
Problems with growing palm trees at home
In the process of growing a palm tree, various difficulties and problems arise. Sometimes the plant does not feel very comfortable. It is easy to reanimate a home beauty, knowing what this or that ailment is talking about.
| Signs | Reasons and what to do? |
| Dry or brown leaf tips | Appear with dryness. The palm tree does not like dry air or receives less moisture. To do this, increase watering or watering frequency. And also humidify the air by spraying the leaves, you can just put open jar with water. This will allow the water to evaporate and naturally humidify the air. Perhaps a palm tree hot from the battery... Move to the back of the room. Cut off the dried ends without damaging the green parts of the leaf. |
| Does not grow | This happens for various reasons:
|
| Turns yellow | Yellow leaves appear when insufficient watering... The palm tree may need more water if you water it frequently. Yellow leaves also appear when insufficient air humidity. Spray frequently: several times a week. Then, reduce the amount to 1-2 times a week. And also put open containers of water. |
| Withers | Palm withers after transplant, expressing dissatisfaction with the change of place. Or do not like the soil or the roots were damaged during transplantation. If there was no transfer, then it is likely roots rot... Explore the root system, remove damaged parts. Change soil and reduce watering. |
| Leaves dry | This is happening with burns, especially for young plants. Create a shadow or cover from direct rays with a light cloth or paper. |
| Rusty stains | Appear when the soil is waterlogged or stagnant water inside the pot:
And rust stains possible with salinity of water. For irrigation, use settled water to evaporate chlorine, ammonia, and salts to precipitate. |
Palm, or Palm trees, or Arecaceae (lat. Arecáceae, Pálmae, Palmáceae) - a family of monocotyledonous plants.
It is represented mostly by woody plants with unbranched trunks, in which primary thickening occurs (that is, thickening due to the activity of the protoderm and the main meristem). There are also a number of species that are characterized by thin creeping or climbing shoots (for example, representatives of the genus Calamus). The family includes 185 genera and about 3400 species.
Palm- tree legend. The peoples of many countries worshiped palm trees, considering them sacred plants. More than a thousand years ago, the Greeks sent messengers with a palm branch to Hellas to announce their victory. In a figurative sense, it is a symbol of peace, because it is not for nothing that the white dove of peace holds a palm branch in its beak. In the same Greece, the athlete who won the competition was awarded a branch of a palm tree. Hence the expression "palm" in something came from.
Liviston leaves in her homeland are used to weave baskets, mats, hats, sandals and other household items. Leaf segments have long been used as writing paper, and many ancient manuscripts were written on them.
Not so long ago, the "Fox tail" palm tree became famous in the world. An Australian plant nursery owner was told that off the beaten track in the northeast of the continent, there are some of the finest palm trees in the world that are second to none. One of the aborigines showed the owner of the nursery this place near the city of Queensland, where spectacular palm trees with spectacular crown leaves, reminiscent of a fox's tail, grew. The new palm tree quickly conquered the world, and only the massive commercial propagation of these palms stopped the wave of illegal harvesting of seeds from wild plants.
Chrysalidocarpus. Such a long name hides a poetic one - "Golden Butterfly", which the plant received for its beautiful fruit color. 20 species of these palms can be seen in nature in Madagascar and the Comoros.
Date palm. The name may be associated with the phoenix bird that was reborn from the ashes. After all, the date is capable of giving offspring even from a dead trunk. About 17 species grow in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa.
Coconut palm. The name comes from the Greek trachys - hard, rough, rough and Karpos - fruit. There are 6 types, common in the Himalayas, China, Japan.
Hamedorea. The bamboo palm got its name from the Greek Chamai, i.e. the fruits are easy to reach and hang low. There are 100 known species growing in Central America.
Hamerops. Translated from Greek means low bush. 1-2 species grow in the Mediterranean.
Hovea. It is also called the paradise palm, comes from the islands of Lord Howe in the Pacific Ocean, where both species known in this genus grow.
The coconut tree lives for about 100 years, producing up to 450 nuts annually. Coconuts are amazing fruits: they can sail for a long time in the sea, and when they reach the coast, they take root and germinate thousands of kilometers from their place of birth. This is why coconut palms are widespread along the coast of tropical seas. The inhabitants of the Pacific coast have a custom of planting a coconut tree when a child is born in the family, whose health is then assessed by the state of the growing tree.
Different countries endow the palm tree with their own symbolism, so in China the palm tree means dignity, fertility and retirement, in Arabia the palm tree is the tree of life. In Christianity, the palm tree characterizes the righteous, immortality, the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem, divine blessing, paradise, and the triumph of the martyr before death.
Separately, palm branches denote triumph and glory, victory over death, sin and resurrection. Early Catholicism associated the palm tree with burials and ranks this plant as a symbol of a person who made a pilgrimage.
In Egypt, the palm tree is considered to be a calendar tree that puts out a new branch only once a month. In Greece, the palm tree is the emblem of Apollo of Delos and Delphic.
Reprinting of articles and photos is allowed only with a hyperlink to the site:Palm trees - one of the largest families of flowering plants - has about 210 genera and 2780 species (G. Moore, 1973), and according to some sources - up to 240 genera and about 3400 species. Palms are widespread mainly in tropical and subtropical countries around the globe, but are especially abundant in Southeast Asia and tropical South America; only a few species are found in extratropical regions (Map 13). The farthest to the north (almost 44 ° N) comes the squat hamerops (Chamaerops humilis), common in the Mediterranean from southern Portugal to Malta, as well as in North Africa. The Phoenix theophrasti date palm grows on the island of Crete. In the arid regions of Afghanistan, the nanorops Ritchie, or the mazari palm (Nannorrhops ritchiana), is found, the range of which extends further into Pakistan, southeastern Iran and South Arabia. Trachycarpus fortunei reaches 35 ° N. NS. in Korea and Japan. This is one of the most cold hardy palms known to be cultivated in Scotland. Another species of the genus, T. takil, grows in the Western Himalayas at an altitude of almost 2400 m above sea level, where snow covers the ground from November to April. The genus Livistona enters Southern Japan and Eastern Australia (up to 37 ° S lat.). The northernmost American palm growing in the southeastern United States, Sabal minor, is found in North Carolina, and Washingtonia filifera (Washingtonia filifera) grows in the desert oases of Southern California and Western Arizona on the Pacific coast. The border of distribution of the family in the southern hemisphere passes through the islands of Juan Fernandez - the island of Robinson Crusoe (southern Juania - Juania australis) and the coastal regions of Central Chile, Southeast Africa, as well as New Zealand and Chatham Island.
Palm trees are characteristic components of many tropical ecosystems. They are found in a variety of habitats - from seashores and mangroves to high slopes, from swamps and swamp forests to savannas and hot desert oases, lowland and mountain rain forests, and even deciduous forests of warm temperate regions. However, it is in the tropical climate that palm trees find the most favorable conditions for their growth. Most palms prefer moist and shady habitats - along rivers and streams, near groundwater outlets, in lowlands that are periodically flooded after heavy rains or flooded with tidal waters, in swamps, where they often form extensive, almost clean thickets. Most palms grow in humid and hot lowlands, and in the mountains usually at low to medium altitudes, but some rise high in the mountains. The latter include the genus Ceroxylon, or wax palm (Ceroxylon), which is found in the Andes of South America in the belt of mists. Thus, C. quindiuense was found in Colombia at an altitude of almost 3000 m, and useful ceroxylon (C. utile) rises to an altitude of 4100 m above sea level on Chiles volcano, meeting near the border of eternal snow. Some palms, such as the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) or the Trinax and Pseudophoenix species in the Caribbean, are permanent inhabitants of the seaside. They are resistant to hurricane winds, salty sea spray, sea water flooding, at least for a short period of time. Palm trees often grow in swampy coastal forests and marshes, along the inner rim of mangroves, in estuaries and on low tidal banks.
Washingtonia species, date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), and several other palms are excellent indicators of soil moisture in arid, extremely arid regions, as they are found only in areas where there is a source of water - a spring, stream or shallow aquifer ... The date palm grows magnificently in the oases of the Sahara and the Libyan Desert, in Algeria, Arabia and southern Iran. Intense heat, extremely dry air, lack of precipitation and even the sultry winds common in deserts - ideal conditions for cultivating date palm. Moreover, it is not a xerophyte, since it is confined exclusively to oases. An Arabic proverb says: "The queen of the oasis bathes her feet in water, and her beautiful head in the fire of the sun." The date palm can also tolerate relatively low temperatures. It grows in areas where the absolute minimum temperature is -9 - -10 ° С almost every year, and in some years in some oases of the Sahara even -12 - -14 ° С. The date palm feels almost equally well on the loose sands of the Sahara and the Arabian Desert, and on the extremely heavy clays of the Iraqi interfluve, and on the stony soils of southern Iran. Its resistance to soil salinity is especially striking. It sometimes grows on salt marshes, where the soil in summer is completely covered with white salt efflorescence.
Palm trees are the main components of palm savannahs in tropical Africa (for example, the Deleb palm tree, or Ethiopian Borassus - Borassus aethiopum and hyphaene species - Hyphaene) and in tropical America (Sabal species - Sabal, Copernicia species - Copernicia, etc.). Scorching heat and winds dry up the soil so much that few plants are able to survive. Palm trees will endure both prolonged flooding and a long dry season without visible damage. Palm trees found in savannahs and also in dry pine forests (for example, creeping saw - Serenoa repens) are surprisingly resistant to fires due to the absence of cambium. The non-falling leaf bases at the bottom of the stem in carnauba (Copernicia prunifera) form a layer that protects plants from fire damage and can also function as water-storing tissue. In a number of palms, such as borassus, the seedling burrows into the ground due to the strong elongation of the cotyledon.
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Palm trees have a characteristic appearance that allows them to be almost unmistakably distinguished from all other plants. They usually have a well-developed, straight, unbranched lignified stem with a crown of large fan or feathery leaves at the top. There are several forms of growth of palms. While maintaining the unity of the building plan, the appearance of the palms is unusually diverse. Their stems can be slanted or climbing, creeping and underground, or spread out on the surface of the earth. Along with the most common tree-like forms, there are lianas, as well as shrub-like and so-called "stemless" palms, in which the aerial stem is greatly shortened or completely absent and only leaves rise above the ground (Fig. 231). However, most palms are tree-like plants with a tall, slender columnar trunk (more precisely, a lignified trunk-like stem), like Washingtonia or Corypha species, striking with their majestic appearance and exceptional correct proportions. Their height can reach (60 m, like the wax palm of Ceroxylon of Kindyo, and the diameter is almost 1 m, like the Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis), which is also called elephant palms for its size (Table 57, 4). Other low-growing palms with thin stems similar to bamboo or reed and elongated internodes, they resemble miniature trees or shrubs.Dwarf palms are no more than half a meter high and as thick as a pencil (some types of Reinhardtia - Reinhardtia from tropical America), and tiny palm iguanura (Iguanura palmuncula) from the island and dwarf siagrus (Syagrus lilliputiana) - a true treasure of the Paraguayan flora - - no more than 10 cm tall, resembling more grass, they are in stark contrast to the majestic "princes of the plant world", as Karl Linnaeus called the palm trees.
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The Egyptian dum-palma, or Hyphaene thebaica, and some other species of the Indo-African genus of Hyphane have an unusual appearance for palm trees: their stems usually branch dichotomously, giving the plants a characteristic appearance (Table 54, 4, Fig. 231). The dichotomy is also known in other members of the family, for example, in the South African Kaffir eubeopsis (Jubaeopsis caffra), the mazari palm and the bushy nipa or mangrove palm (Nypa fruticans). In the palm family, the dichotomy is apparently secondary. Non-dichotomy branching of creeping shoots, usually in the American serenoa palm. Isolated cases of branching in Chrysalidocarpus lutescens and some other palms are probably associated with damage to the apical bud. In a number of large palms, the trunks are bottle-shaped or barrel-shaped swollen. An example is the endemic species of the Mascarene Islands bottle gioforbe (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, table 50, 2), bitter-stemmed gioforbe H. amaricaulis) and the famous barrigona (Colpothrinax wrightii), growing in the sandy savannas of Western Cuba and the island of Huventud (Table 53, 1). Its trunk is barrel-wide in the middle part, and looking at it involuntarily suggests a comparison with an anaconda that has swallowed its prey. The African Deleb can have two or even three consecutive trunk extensions in the middle. The reasons for the appearance of such enlargements of the trunk and their biological significance are not yet completely clear. The stem of the pseudophoenix vinifera from the island of Haiti has the shape of a bottle, the long neck of which develops with the onset of flowering. In sabal, localized narrowing of the stems is noted in years unfavorable for the growth of a palm tree, as a result of which its trunk resembles an hourglass. Iriartea ventricosa, Socratea exorrhiza, Fig. 242, and some other palms - inhabitants of swamps, flooded lowlands and mountain forests of the fog belt of tropical America - have a peculiar appearance. The stems of these plants are equipped with stilted roots up to 2.5 m high, dotted with thorny thorns - modified lateral roots. In the early stages of development, the internodes of the stems of these palms quickly elongate, forming an unstable inverse conical axis, which is supported by stilted roots. They are formed from the lower internodes of the stem and provide support to the plant. After the base of the stem dies off, the palm rests on these roots, as if on stilts. Many palms have the form of shrub growth due to the formation of numerous stems from axillary buds at the base of the stem or on underground side shoots - stolons or rhizomes. In the first case, a compact bundle of stems appears, in the latter, the stems appear at some distance from the plant, forming thickets (Fig. 231).
Species of the American genus Sabal, Rhopalostylis sapida, endemic to New Zealand, and some palms from the coconut subfamily have an underground stem, which at first grows obliquely down into the ground (to a depth of 1 - 1.5 m in Attalea funifera ), and then, suddenly changing direction, bends upward (taking the shape of a saxophone), rises to the surface of the earth and forms an aerial stem in tree-like forms, like in Sabal palmetto, sometimes strongly shortened, like in a small sabal (Fig. 233 ), sometimes strongly curved and even twisted into a spiral, often S-shaped, from below with roots like ropes. When the vegetation is destroyed by fires in dry seasons, the underground stems of attalea and some other palms remain intact and soon produce new leaves. In the American oil palm (Elaeis oleifera), the old part of the trunk lays down, it is spread on the surface of the earth and is covered along its entire length with adventitious roots; the younger ascending part raises the crown of large cirrus leaves to a height of 2 m. Since the oldest part of the stem dies and decays, the palm tree almost imperceptibly moves away from the place where it was planted - "walks", say the locals.
Among the palms there are climbing lianas reaching the tops of the trees in the tropical rain forest (Table 56, 1). Their thin flexible stems with very long (sometimes up to 2 m) internodes and spread feathery leaves often reach a length of more than 100 m, and in some calamus species - up to 150 - 180 m. They climb with the help of modified leaves or sometimes inflorescences, firmly fixing itself, like an anchor, to the surrounding trees or shrubs, hanging between them with scallops. Climbing palms are found in all tropical areas. This form of growth arose independently in different groups of palms - in the New and Old Worlds. Rattan, or climbing, palms of the Old World, the most important of which are two large genera - calamus and demonorops (Daemonorops), are found in rainforest Asia, Australasia and Africa, but are especially diverse in the rain forests of Southeast Asia. Species of the genus Calamus are the largest and most specialized vines, forming dense, impenetrable thickets.
The vast majority of climbing vines are multi-stemmed plants, climbing stems usually arise from underground rhizomes, only Plectocomia has single stems. In Calamus, the seedling forms a rosette of leaves, from which several climbing stems rise.
Stems of palm trees are smooth, with annular scars from fallen leaves, like in the Cuban royal palm (Roystonea regia), or covered with a layer of leaf sheaths and petioles, sometimes thorny, like in American Acrocomia and Bactris palms. The thin stems of the Astrocaryum vulgare, an inhabitant of dry forests in the Amazon and Rio Negro, like other species of this genus, are armed with whorls of long sharp thorns. Straight or curved thorns on the stems of the Mexican dwarf cryosophila (Cryosophila nana), protecting the plant from being eaten by animals, are nothing more than modified adventitious roots with pointed hard root caps. In the lower part of the stem, common roots are sometimes formed. Root thorns also cover the trunks of the Amazonian palms of prickly mauritia (Mauritia aculeata) and armed mauritia (M. armatа). The extended stem base, characteristic of many palms, provides a solid foundation for a tall and powerful "column". Numerous rope-like adventitious roots extend from it. The primary root dies off early and is replaced by adventitious roots that appear on the lower internodes of the stems throughout the life of the palm. These roots are devoid of root spikelets; sometimes palms have mycorrhiza (coconut palm, peach palm - Bactris gasipaes - and others). Palm stems, always lignified and perennial, are composed of a crustal layer and numerous vascular bundles and fibers scattered in the main parenchyma. The fibers are tough, dark brown or black, often contain silica and are very hard. The vascular bundles are more concentrated towards the periphery of the stem, forming a much denser tissue than in the central part. This distribution of supporting fabrics provides maximum strength and stability to the trunk, although palms, due to the lack of cambium, do not form real wood like our regular dicotyledonous and coniferous trees. The design of the palm tree is in line with the best examples of civil engineering. The stalk of the palm grows to a considerable thickness as a result of primary growth, which occurs immediately below the apical meristem, located in the center of a small cupped or saucer-shaped depression at the apex of the stalk. The apical bud of a palm tree (figuratively referred to as "palm cabbage" or "heart of a palm tree") - a creamy, juicy, curly mass of young leaves - resembles a cabbage in appearance. It is deeply hidden in the crown and is protected from forest herbivores by the bases of the leaves, usually thick, rough, with a sharp edge or with thorns. Palm stems sometimes thicken (as, for example, in the royal palm) due to the division and stretching of the cells of the main parenchyma and fibers that surround the vascular bundles. This growth is called diffuse secondary growth or sometimes "continuous primary growth" (J. T. Wathaus and C. J. Queenie, 1978).
The leaves of the palms are alternate, usually clearly dissected into a petiole and a blade. The lower part of the petiole is expanded into the vagina, partially or completely covering the stem. The petioles are usually long, but may be very short or even absent. Palm leaf blades are extremely varied in size, shape and dissection. Their size ranges from a few centimeters (12.5 cm in the Guatemalan chamedorea of Türkheim - Chamaedorea tuerckheimii) to the largest in the plant world: in royal raffia (Raphia regalis), their total length with a petiole is over 25 m. The famous "shadow palm" - the corypha Umbrella, or talipot palm (Corypha umbraculiferа), - has fan leaves up to 7 - 8 m long (petiole 2 - 3 m) and a diameter of 5 - 6 m. Its leaf is so large that it can shelter 15 - 20 people from the rain. The leaf blade in palms is complex, folded, fan or pinnate, in Caryota (Caryota) it is double pinnate; less often the plate is whole, not dissected into segments, palatine or peristonerous, and often bilobed at the apex (Fig. 232). Whole leaves of the American palm of manicaria saccifera (Manicaria saccifera), 9-10 m long and 1.5-2 m wide, jagged along the edge, under the influence of the wind they break incorrectly, like a banana. In fan leaves, the rachis (core) is greatly shortened. The plates are usually dissected into linear or lanceolate segments at various depths, sometimes almost to the base. The leaves of some species of the Malesian genus Licuala are palmate, dissected to the very base into narrow-wedge-shaped segments with a blunt serrated top, each consisting of several folds. In the so-called comb palms (for example, in species of the genus Sabal), the rachis continues into a blade and extends for a certain distance, sometimes almost to the very top, forming the median crest of the leaf and bending its blade. It gives large leaves great strength. Such leaves make up the transition from typical fan-shaped to feathery. Many fan and crested palms have a triangular outgrowth similar to a tongue at the top of the petiole at the point of its junction with the plate - gastula (Latin hastula - short end, dart, Fig. 232). It is usually present on the upper side of the plate, rarely on both sides. Sometimes the gastula reaches a significant size.
The presence of a median crest, or a powerful midrib of the blade, is a characteristic feature of the palm leaf. Segments of fan leaves and feathers of cirrus leaves - with a noticeable midrib or with several veins and have numerous and thinner veins, usually parallel to the median, but sometimes radiating from the base or from the midrib and ending along the edge or at the toothed apex of the feathers.
Palms are divided into two large groups depending on the nature of the attachment of segments and feathers to the rachis (Fig. 232). In some palms, the segments and feathers are V-shaped in cross-section (having the shape of a groove), that is, induplicate, or folded upwards with a noticeable vein below at the point of attachment to the rachis; the plate ends with an unpaired apical segment or feather. In other palms, the segments and feathers are Λ-shaped (roof-shaped) in cross-section, that is, reduplicate, or folded down with a noticeable vein at the top; the plate ends with a pair of segments or feathers with a thread located sometimes between them, representing the end of the rachis. Both pinnate and fan leaves are laid as one piece, and all parts of the leaf develop from the original whole tissue. The leaves of the palms are leathery, tough. They are covered with a thick layer of cuticle, often with a waxy coating, which in some palms reaches a considerable thickness. Many palms have a cover of tiny scales or hairs that can fade with age. The leaf blade is mostly smooth, but some thorny palms have thorns on the rachis and feathers. There is also a great variety in the structure of the base of the palm leaf. Many palms have long, closed tubular sheaths. They are often not expressed in adulthood, although in the early stages of development they form closed tubes that cover the stem.
Since palms do not have a specialized covering tissue, like the bark of dicotyledonous plants, the remnants of leaves that remain in many palms can serve as a protective function. In Washingtonia species, the trunk is covered with a "skirt" of old, dry leaves, which persists in natural conditions for many years, forming a strong column in old plants up to 2.5 m thick (Fig. 231).
Numerous flowers of palm trees, usually collected in large, highly branched lateral inflorescences. In most cases, these are panicles with spike-shaped, ear-shaped or fleshy thickened and cob-shaped branches. Inflorescences, like the stems and leaves of palm trees, often grow to a considerable size. The giant apical inflorescence of the "shadow palm" - the coryphae of the umbrella - one of the largest in the plant world, reaches a length of 6 - 9 m. The female flowers of Phytelephas macrocarpa, mangrove palm, oil palm form heads. Rarely, the inflorescences are unbranched, spike-shaped (as in the species Licuala - Licuala or Geonoma - Geonoma). The vast majority of palms have axillary inflorescences; they develop among the leaves in the crown, like a coconut palm or sabal species, or below the crown, like a royal palm, opening only after the leaf has fallen off. Unusual arrangement of inflorescences in species of calamus and related genera: in them, the inflorescence grows to the sheath of the above-lying leaf.
Most palms are polycarpics; they form lateral inflorescences in an ascending sequence during many years of life. But in relatively few palms, inflorescences appear at the top of the stem only once in a lifetime after a long period of vegetative growth, and after fruiting, the plant dies off. Such plants are called monocarpics. There are only 16 known genera of monocarpic palms, and all of them (with the exception of torch raffia - Raphia taedigera) are limited to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World. It is curious that the monocarpic genus in general Metroxylon (Metroxylon) includes one polycarpic species, Metroxylon Tong (M. amicarum), and the beautiful-fruited demonorops (Daemonorops calicarpa) is the only monocarpic representative of the largest genus of rattan palms. Perhaps the most striking example of a monocarpic palm is the umbrella-bearing corypha growing in South India and on the island of Sri Lanka (Table 53, 5, 4). This majestic palm tree bears a crown of large fan-shaped leaves. In the 40 - 70th year of life, the palm tree blooms, forming a giant apical paniculate inflorescence of many thousands of white flowers; branches of this huge "bouquet" reach a length of 3 - 5 m. Over many years of growth in the central part of the trunk in huge quantities accumulate nutrients in the form of starch, necessary for the only reproductive explosion in the life of a palm. On the island of Sri Lanka, many specimens of this palm tree bloom at the same time.
A similar group bloom is also observed in the giant Malay mountain rattan Plectocomia griffithii.
The peduncle of palms bears a basal two-tibial pre-leaf (profile) and usually from one to several covering leaves, which enclose a young inflorescence and, when flowering, split longitudinally or burst. They are called sterile covering leaves, since they are not associated with flower axes, in contrast to fertile ones, covering the branches of the inflorescence at the base and terminal axes that bear flowers. Covering leaves are tubular or scaphoid, leathery, webbed, fibrous or sometimes even woody, smooth or woolly, sometimes prickly. They fall off when the inflorescence opens or remain on the peduncle (sometimes long after the formation of fruits). Their number varies in different groups of palms.
Flowers of palms are small and inconspicuous (a rare exception are large, 7-10 cm long, female flowers of phytelephus and Seychelles palm (Lodoicea maldivica, or L. sechellarum). They are usually sessile, sometimes even immersed in the fleshy axis of the inflorescence, rarely on short pedicels. Flowers are sometimes bisexual, but much more often unisexual; in the latter case, male and female flowers are similar or noticeably dimorphic, like in borassus and geonoma.Plants are usually monoecious, less often dioecious (for example, date palm, phytelefas and chamedorea species). In monoecious palms, male and female flowers are located in the same inflorescence, but are usually placed in different parts of the axis, like in a coconut tree, or collected in independent male and female inflorescences, sometimes in male and bisexual. 2 circles, or rarely spiral, or single-row and irregularly lobed, or rudimentary, and sometimes completely absent (in male flowers of phytelefas). perianth tents are loose or accrete, membranous, white, yellow, orange or red. The sepals and petals of the least specialized palms are similar, but much more often the sepals are smaller than the petals. There are usually 3 sepals, rarely 2 or 3 - 7 or more (in female flowers of phytelefas); they are free and tiled or accrete. The petals are usually the same as the sepals, free or accrete, usually valve in male flowers (less often accrete with free lobes) and tiled in female and bisexual flowers, sometimes with short-valve tops or rarely valve. There are usually 6 stamens, located in 2 circles, rarely there are 3 (three-stalked wallichia - Wallichia triandra, mangrove palm, three-stamen areca - Aresa triandra) or much more than 6, but their number is usually a multiple of 3. In some specialized palms, for example, palandra (Palandra), there are from 120 to 950 - the largest number of stamens known in palms; they develop centrifugally. Polyandry (myogoticity) arose independently in different groups of palms. The filaments of the stamens are straight or bent at the top in the bud, free or variously fused together or adherent to the petals, or at the same time fused and adherent. Anthers attached at base or dorsum, rarely double or with separated pollen nests, straight or rarely twisted; they are opened by longitudinal slits. The pollen grains are most often mono-grooved, similar to the pollen of liliaceae, less often with a 3-ray groove, with 2 distal grooves, or 1 - 3-pore grooves. The pollen of nipa, annular and thorny, is different from that of all other palms. Female palm flowers often have staminodes - in the form of teeth, subulate or equipped with rudimentary anthers, free or sometimes fused into a cupula or tube with a lobed or toothed apex and sometimes adherent to the petals. Gynoecium in the most primitive palms is apocarpous, of 1 - 3 (usually 3) carpels, but in most genera it is syncarpous, usually of 3 partially or completely accrete carpels, sometimes of 3 - 7 or 7 - 10; sometimes gynoecium is pseudo-monomeric with 2 reduced and 1 fertile nest and 1 ovule (as in Areca - Ares and many related genera). Most palms have septal nectaries located on the septa of the ovary. In some palms, they are small and, according to their position in the basal part of the ovary, are considered less specialized in this family (for example, in sabal, Livistona or coryphae). In the pseudophenix, the septal nectary, located at the base of the carpels, opens outward in pores opposite each petal. In other palms, nectaries with long canals that open with pores on the upper surface of the gynoecium (in Arenga, Latania) or between the carpels at the base of stigmas (in Butia, Butia, MacArthur poultry, Ptychosperma macarthurii). The trachycarpus has a rudimentary nectar spot on the sides of the three free carpels facing the center of the flower. The squat chamerops (Chamaerops humilis) has a rudimentary nectary on the upper surface of the bowl, formed by the fused, expanded and thickened bases of filaments in the male flower. Columns are free or accrete, long or short, and thickened or imperceptible. The stigma is straight or curved, sometimes elongated, rarely indistinguishable, in the form of a slit on the carpel or two-crested. In each carpel or in each nest of the ovary there is usually 1 ovule (rarely with 1 or 2 additional ovules - in the nipa). When the fruit ripens, 2 out of 3 carpels are often underdeveloped. The ovules are anatropic, hemitropic, campylotropic, or orthotropic. Rudimentary gynoecium is sometimes absent in male flowers.
Carpels of palms exhibit many of the characteristics of the primitive carpels of flowering plants. They are often leaf-shaped, can be pedunculated, and are usually conduplicatively folded, often with open abdominal sutures and laminar or sublaminal placentations. In Trachycarpus Fortune, trichomes develop along and to some extent within the open ventral suture, as in some primitive dicotyledonous plants. The stigma is sessile or nearly sessile. The genus nipa differs from the rest of the palms in a peculiar asymmetric cup-shaped carpel with a funnel-shaped stigma opening, the wide inner surface of which unfolds and folds back during flowering. The combination of bisexual flowers and apocarp is found only in primitive genera belonging to the subfamily of Coryphaeum. The apocarp is also characteristic of the date palm and nipe. Along with the archaic structural features of the gynoecium, inherent in some palms, in other representatives one can observe many signs of high specialization.
Palm trees are cross-pollinated plants with various adaptations that prevent self-pollination. The most reliable of these is dioeciousness, which is known in relatively few palms. In monoecious palms, the ripening of male and female flowers in the inflorescence is observed at different times, as a result of which the plant stays either in the male or in the female phase of flowering. These phases are sharply demarcated in time and, as a rule, do not overlap. The exceptions are palms, in which several inflorescences develop in the leaf axil (like in the arena) and male and female flowers can be opened simultaneously in different nodes of the stem, as well as bushy palms, which may have asynchronous opening of flowers on different stems. Dichogamy appears in palms in the form of both protandria and sometimes protogyny. Protandria is well pronounced in many palms (eg coconut and sago). Male flowers, which bloom first in the protandric inflorescence, are ephemeral. They usually open at dawn and fall off after a few hours. The female flowers remain receptive for several days. In triads, male flowers open sequentially, one after the other, (rarely two male flowers are open at the same time), and only after they fall, often after a few days or even weeks, female flowers open. Blossoming of flowers arranged in vertical rows proceeds in a basipetal sequence: the top flower falls before the next one blooms. This way of opening flowers in palms provides the plant with pollen for a longer period of time. Protogyny is much less common and is known, for example, in pipa, sabal saw palmetto and some palms pollinated by beetles.
Most palms appear to be pollinated by insects. Although the flowers of palm trees are small and, despite the sometimes brightly colored perianths, are usually inconspicuous, they are collected in large inflorescences that stand out noticeably against the background of dark green foliage. The flowers of many palms, such as the Clhamaedorea fragrans from the Peruvian Andes, are very fragrant. Sometimes palm pollen (like Acrocomia) has a characteristic odor or is brightly colored (like nipa). Bees, flies, hoverflies, fruit flies, beetles, thrips, moths, ants and other insects visit flowers for nectar, pollen, succulent flower tissue, or use the flower as a breeding ground, oviposition, and larval development. As a rule, a variety of insects are found in the flowers of palm trees, although not all of them are effective pollinators. Some palms are pollinated by beetles that feed on pollen and flower tissues. Various types of beetles carry out pollination, most often - weevils (Curculionidae). Palms pollinated by beetles, as a rule, are protogynous and form a large amount of pollen, while their flowers are devoid of nectar. Weevils pollinate flowers of two species of Bactris in Costa Rica (Bactris large - Bactris major and Bactris Guinea - B. guineensis), thorny palms from the coconut subfamily. Like nipa, they are protogynous, and flowering begins with the opening of the female flowers in the afternoon, which remain susceptible for 12 hours. Male flowers open 24 hours later than female ones and emit a musky smell, attracting beetles that eat their large thick petals. When male flowers open and lose pollen, beetles, loaded with this pollen, move to newly opened inflorescences with susceptible female flowers, pollinating them. The abundant pollen of male flowers also feeds on cuckoo (Nitidulidae), bees, and fruit flies on the tissues of flowers. About 10% of visitors to bactris flowers are predatory beetles, rove beetles. The pollination mechanism of Bactris is very effective. Female flowers do not need to develop any special adaptations to attract pollinators and therefore can concentrate energy on their main function - the formation of fruits and seeds.
The pollination mechanism of Hydriastele microspadix from New Guinea is surprisingly similar to that just described. The flowers of the hydriastela are pollinated by weevils, which are found almost exclusively in the flowers of palm trees and are panthropic in their distribution (a remarkable example of the conjugate evolution of palms and insects). Weevils pollinate the flowers of Rhapidophyllum hystrix, a low shrub-like palm tree, which is called porcupine due to its numerous long (15 - 20 cm) sharp black needles on leaf sheaths. This palm tree grows in damp places and swamps of the coastal plain of the United States from South Florida to the Carolina. Short, tightly compressed inflorescences with 5 - 7 covering leaves are literally buried in a mass of needles and dark brown sheaths and never protrude even when the fruit is ripe. Male and to a lesser extent female flowers emit a musky scent. There is evidence of pollination of flowers of a number of other palms by beetles. Beetles are found in closed male inflorescences of Ammandra, and the release of heat by flowers of phytelefas - a phenomenon often associated with pollination by beetles - suggests cantharophilia in this genus. The milky white flowers of Johannesteijsmannia altifrons on the pale yellow velvety branches of the inflorescence partially hidden in the humus and plant debris accumulating at the base of the leaves of this "stemless" palm attract numerous insects with their sour milk and sewage scent. The flowers contain many beetles (adults and larvae), rove beetles, as well as larvae of flies, thrips, ants, termites, and beetles. In Ceratolobus, one of the most remarkable dioecious genera of rattan in the humid regions of Maleesia, the inflorescence is enclosed within a single cover leaf, which is opened by two tiny lateral slits at the apex. Numerous insects penetrate through them, attracted by the musty smell of flowers. In the inflorescences of the glaucous ceratolobus (C. glaucescens), an endangered species, the only small population of which is found in West Java, beetles, thrips and ants are abundant. The latter quickly colonize the inflorescences and the whole plant. They are attracted by nectar. In species with drooping inflorescences, pollen accumulates in abundance near the holes through which insects enter the inflorescence or get out. Ceratolobus flowers are closed from larger arthropod visitors, which cannot penetrate through small cracks. The "filter for pollinators" is also found in the American palmetto manicaria, the inflorescence of which is enclosed inside a saccular covering leaf with tiny holes between the fibers (Fig. 243).
However, there are many wind-pollinated plants among the palms. The date palm is a classic example. Under natural conditions, in the population of this dioecious plant, about half of the male specimens. A single cover leaf covers the entire inflorescence. The male and female flowers bloom as soon as the inflorescence is released from the cover leaf. The female flowers are apparently susceptible for 1 or 2 days. In culture, to obtain a sustainable harvest, the date palm is artificially pollinated by tying the cut branches of the male inflorescence to the top of the female. One male specimen is enough to pollinate 100 females. Artificial pollination was first applied by the ancient Assyrians and has been practiced for at least 3 or 4 millennia. This technique has survived to this day almost unchanged. Date palm pollen, which is produced in huge quantities, remains viable for one season or even 1 to 2 years. The fact that the pollen in palms retains its viability for a relatively long period of time was established for another dioecious wind-pollinated palm, the squat hamerops. In 1707, Joseph Kölreuter, whose name is associated with the doctrine of the field in plants, sent hamerops pollen, taken from a male specimen in the botanical garden in Karlsruhe, simultaneously to Berlin and St. Petersburg. The gardener Ekleben pollinated an old specimen of this palm tree, brought back under Peter I and located in the greenhouse at the Summer Palace. Although the journey took several weeks, the pollen did not lose its germination ability and the plant produced abundant fruits.
Perianth reduction in Trinax (Thrinax), a primitive genus with bisexual flowers with apocarpous gynoecium, is undoubtedly associated with wind pollination (Fig. 235). The cover leaves are relatively thin and the inflorescence opens quickly. Especially remarkable is the rapid elongation of the branches of the inflorescence, which grow in length by 15 - 20 cm in 10 hours before the anthers open. The flowers are protandric. In the small-flowered trinax (T. parviflora), the anthers open early in the morning, and abundant dry powdery pollen covers the branches of the inflorescence. During the male phase of flowering, the lips of the double-lipped stigma of the monocarpous gynoecium are tightly pressed together, which reduces the possibility of self-pollination. The stigma moves apart 24 hours after the anthers are opened. The funnel-shaped canal of the carpel is open distally. Trinax has been found to have pollen grains on the ovule in the nest, which is unusual for flowering plants. The open channel of the column appears to be a direct entrance for wind-carried pollen. Self-pollination occurs frequently and successfully, as indicated by abundant fruit setting on isolated specimens.
Until now, botanists have no consensus regarding the pollination of the coconut palm, one of the most studied palms. This plant is apparently pollinated by both insects and wind. Small male flowers open first around 6 a.m. and fall off at noon. Female flowers are susceptible for several days. The female flowering phase lasts 4-7 days. In addition, the flowers of the coconut tree are visited by birds - sunbirds and parrots, which feed on pollen. In a dwarf variety of this palm on the Malacca Peninsula, male and female flowers open, as a rule, at the same time, and self-pollination prevails here. In the smooth-covered butia (Butia leiospatha), an inhabitant of the Cerrados of Brazil, like the coconut palm, wind pollination is combined with insect pollination. Its flowers are visited by wasps, flies, and weevils and glitterlings grow in inflorescences. They use closed inflorescences and young fruits as egg-laying sites.
Self-pollination is also known in some palms. The bisexual flowers of the tall corypha (Sorpha elata) are self-compatible. Abundant setting of fruits with fertile seeds as a result of self-pollination is quite common in isolated cultivated specimens, which is of particular importance in connection with the monocarp of this species. In rattan palm, demonorops kunstleri, most of the fruits and seeds are formed, apparently, parthenogenetically.
The fruits of the palms are unusually varied. Their size ranges from a few millimeters to half a meter in the Seychelles palm, the fruits of which are among the largest in the plant world. In nipa, phytelefas and oil palm, the fruits are collected in large compact heads. Fruits are usually 1-seeded, but sometimes 2, 3 - 10-seeded. They represent a dry or fleshy syncarpous drupe with endocarp adherent to the seed or free, less often fruits, berry-like (for example, dates can serve). At the base, the fruits are often surrounded by a growing and hardening perianth. The vast majority of palms have non-expanding fruits. Only in a few species, when ripe, they split at the apex (Microcoelum - Microcoelum, Lithocarium - Lytocaryum, Socratea salazarii), and in Astrocarium species (Astrocarуum) they open completely, exposing sometimes brightly colored pulp.
The mesocarp of the fetus is juicy, sometimes with abundant needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate, often oily, juicy, fibrous or dry. The endocarp, enclosing the seed, is thin, cartilaginous or membranous, sometimes with a lid over the embryo (like in Clinostigma), or thick, horny or bony, then often with 3 or rarely more germinal pores (like in the coconut palm and other related childbirth). The number of pores corresponds to the number of carpels, and their location (in the middle, below or above the middle of the endocarp) corresponds to the position of the ovule micropyle. In a single-seeded fruit, only one of the pores functions, opposite to the ovule of the fertile carpel. The endocarp is sometimes provided with longitudinal ribs, while in the Seychelles palm it is deeply 2-, sometimes 3-, 4- and even 6-lobed. Palm seeds are very diverse in size and shape. Their size ranges from just a few millimeters to the largest in the plant world - 30 or 45 cm for the Seychelles palm. The seed coat is thin, smooth or fleshy (like the herring - Salacca), loose or fused with the endocarp. The endosperm is abundant, homogeneous or ruminated, in immature seeds it is often liquid or jelly-like, then it becomes very hard, and in some types of palms it is a source of plant "ivory" (phytelefas is large-fruited, hyphane is swollen - Hyphaene ventricosa, etc.). The endosperm contains a large amount of oil and protein. The embryo is small, cylindrical or conical. Several palm species have polyembryony.
Palm seeds do not have a dormant period, the embryo grows continuously. Seed germination can begin while the fruit is still attached to the plant. The embryo does not stop growing even while the seeds are spreading. In Malay villages, you can often see the sprouting of coconuts suspended from the posts of huts. The embryo receives water and nutrients from the endosperm. Seedling roots growing in the fibrous mesocarp are able to absorb rainwater seeping through the peel. However, the juicy pericarp (for example, in Livistona) inhibits or prevents the germination of the seed. When stored, seeds tend to lose germination quickly. They should be sown shortly after harvest. The exception is pseudophenix, whose “long-lived” seeds germinate after two years of storage. This ability to germinate after a long dry period is probably essential for survival in arid conditions such as sands and porous limestone in the Caribbean. Palm seeds germinate underground, with the exception of nipa, in which seeds germinate on plants or in floating fruits. The cotyledon never opens up as a green photosynthetic organ, since its tip remains immersed in the endosperm of the seed and is modified into a sucking organ - the haustorium. It dissolves and absorbs nutrients from the endosperm to support the growth of the embryo until the young plant forms leaves. In many palms, the cotyledon, when emerging from the seed, elongates in the form of a cotyledon tube and buries the seedling in the ground to a certain depth, which may be adaptive for palms growing in savannahs. Deepening the cotyledon into the soil at different types palm trees occur at different depths, which is largely determined by habitat conditions. Deeper into the soil, the lower part of the cotyledon grows in the form of a tubular sheath at some distance from the fetus.
In palms, three types of seed germination are known (Fig. 233). In species with a noticeable elongation of the cotyledon, the seedling is distant from the seed and haustorium. In the date palm, trachycarpus, coryphae, the lower part of the cotyledon grows underground in the form of a long tubular sheath, and a shoot emerges from the cotyledon fissure formed in its upper part. In sabal, washingtonia, jubaea, the cotyledon in the lower part is expanded in the form of a much shorter tubular sheath, which forms a uvula in the upper part. In archontophenix, coconut palms, and some other palms, the cotyledon lengthens only enough to carry the embryo out of the endocarp. The lower part of the cotyledon, immediately after leaving the seed, grows outward in the form of a bell, forming a tongue. An embryo begins to germinate from the base of the cotyledon, parts of which are closely adjacent to the haustorium.
The fruits of many palms, juicy and brightly colored, are distributed by animals. Their main distributors are birds, although a wide variety of animals - from rodents to monkeys - also feed on the fruits of palm trees and distribute seeds. Large birds swallow the fruit whole, throwing out undamaged seeds near the palm trees or, more often, transferring them a certain distance. Certain birds, in particular pigeons, apparently played a large role in the spread of the range of palms. So, thanks to them, and also, apparently, the oceanic currents, Pritchardia penetrated the Hawaiian Islands. The birds apparently introduced the seeds of the royal Haitian palm (Roystonea hispaniolana) to Little Inagua Island (Bahamas), where palm trees were recently discovered growing on the bottom of several large karst sinkholes. The list of palms, the fruits of which the birds feed on, is quite large. Cariotic fruits in Java feed on predatory mammals such as jackals, the Malayan palm marten and civets. Palm civets, wild pigs feed on the fruits of the sugar palm (Arenga pinnata), and the black-armed and dwarf gibbons in Indonesia eat the ripe fruits of the arenga (A. obtusifolia). The fruits of rattan palms - calamus and demonorops - also serve as food for gibbons. Baboons feed on the fruits of the Egyptian doom palm. In ancient Egypt, Thoth, the god of wisdom, patron of sciences, was revered in the form of an ibis or baboon, and since baboons often feed on the fruits of the doom palm, she became the sacred tree of Thoth. Images of baboons on palms are found in the paintings that covered the walls of ancient tombs. Monkeys are attracted by the fruits of the date palm Phoenix roebelenii in Laos, the American palms of manicaria and maximiliana maripa, as well as the African oil palm.
Bats play an important role in the spread of fruits of some palms, which, like birds, can spread seeds over long distances. Large (15 - 20 cm in diameter) drupes of the Deleb, or Ethiopian Borassus, are the favorite food of the African elephant. It is to him that the palm owes its distribution throughout tropical Africa. The elephant eats the fruits, and the endocarp with the seeds enclosed in them are thrown out intact along with the excrement. However, the presence of the genus in Madagascar, New Guinea and, possibly, even in Australia, where there are no elephants, according to Harold Moore (1973), excludes the assumption of a conjugate evolution of elephants and Borassus, as well as the closely related small genus Borassodendron (Borassodendron). The African strata also feeds on the smaller fruits of the hyphana bloated, growing in the hot dry valleys of southern Zambia, and the African wild date palm (Phoenix reclinata). The fruits of palm trees that have fallen to the ground are eaten by tapirs, deer, fallow deer, bakers, goats, and cattle. Coyotes and gray foxes feed on the fruits of washingtonia filamentous. Squirrels and numerous rodents (paca, mice, rats) also take part in the distribution of fruits and seeds. They often drag the fruits to the nests or put them somewhere in the reserve, while some of the seeds are lost along the way or remain unused for some reason. In Brazil, rodents burrow the fruits of Attalea funifera and Orbignya barbosiana in underground burrows, where their germination is stimulated by high temperatures due to the annual savanna fires. Fragrant fruit pulp and seeds with juicy skin of edible herring (Salacca edulis), an almost stemless, very thorny palm tree on the islands of the Malay Archipelago, attract not only rodents and birds, but also monitor lizards and turtles. The fruits of the Astrocaryum vulgare serve as food for fish, and the fish also eat the fruits of the Geonoma schottiana in South America.
Despite the abundant fruiting of palms, their fruits and seeds are often predatory destroyed by beetles and other insects, tree mice and rats, pigs and crabs. There is a close biological relationship between the coconut tree and the huge crab called the palm thief (Birgus latro). It feeds on the pulp of unripe coconuts: breaking the fibers, with powerful pincers punches a hole in the area of the "soft" eye, pulls out the pulp, sometimes breaking the endocarp with blows against the stones. The crab not only destroys fruits that have fallen to the ground, but, as you know, even climbs on a palm tree, knocking down coconuts. The crab lives on the tropical islands of the Indian and Western Pacific Ocean - in the area of distribution of the coconut palm. Chemical analysis of its fat has shown that it resembles coconut oil, having little to do with animal fat. This crab also feeds on the small juicy fruits of another palm, the Arenga listeri, which is endemic to Christmas Island.
Sea currents, rivers and streams, storm streams play an important role in the spread of seeds and fruits of a number of palms. Water contributes to the spread of species that inhabit the banks of rivers, such as meandering mauritia (Mauritia fiexuosa), and many other palms found in abundance on the banks of the "palm" Amazon River, Orinoco and their tributaries, as well as inhabitants of swamps and swampy forests (such as raffia and metroxilone). The fruits and seeds of a number of palms are picked up by the floods. The floating fruits of the coconut palm, nipa, pritchardia, sabal palmetto and others are carried by sea currents. Sometimes the fruits become buoyant only when they dry, like in Pseudophoenix sargentii, or when the seeds are destroyed. The fruits of manicaria are highly buoyant. Falling, they burrow into detritus or are carried out by rivers far into the sea, however, they cannot withstand prolonged exposure to salt water and soon collapse. Fruits with rotten or dry seeds can be carried by currents. They are found in large numbers on the beaches of the West Indies, on the Turke Islands (the southeastern tip of the Bahamas) and even on the west coast of Scotland. Of the seeds that have reached the Terke Islands, no more than 1 - 2% retain the ability to germinate.
A large role in the spread of many palms was played by man, especially such vital ones for him as coconut, oil, date, sugar, etc.
The classification of palms is based mainly on the structure of the gynoecium and the fruit, the type of inflorescence, the nature of the arrangement of flowers on the axes of the inflorescence, the number of covering leaves. Most modern authors accept the division of palms into 9 subfamilies: corythous (Coryphoideae), phoenix (Phoenicoideae), borass (Borassoideae), caryotic (Caryotoideae), nip (Nypoideae), lepidocaryoideae (Lepidocaryoideae) and) phytelephantine (Phytelephantoideae). With the exception of the largest and most heterogeneous subfamily of the Arecaceae, which will obviously be further subdivided, they are all natural, well-distinguished groups of palms. American palmologist Harold Moore (1973) divided the family into 15 large groups (without specifying their taxonomic rank), representing 5 evolutionary lines in the palm family; 8 of these groups fully correspond to the accepted subfamilies; the remaining 7 groups together constitute the subfamily of arecaceae, while most of them coincide (partially or completely) with individual tribes, and the group of arecoid palms embraces many tribes in palm classification systems. These large divisions of palms often correspond to those distinguished by P. Tomlinson (1961) on the basis of comparative anatomy data.
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Oddly enough, but the question of what grows on a palm tree, not all people can answer correctly. Some believe that not only dates and coconuts can grow on them, but also bananas and pineapples, which is quite incredible.
Types of palm plants
Palm is a southern woody plant that grows exclusively in tropical and subtropical climates. The Palm family belongs to flowering plants and has about 185 genera and 3400 species. There are especially many of these plants in the zones of Southeast Asia and in the tropical countries of South America.
In colder regions, palm trees can be seen in the Mediterranean and North Africa, Crete, Japan and China, northern Australia, etc.
Palm trees can be found in completely different places, from the seaside to the slopes of the highlands, near swamps and forests, as well as in hot oases in the desert. Most of all, however, they prefer humid and shady areas with a tropical climate, forming continuous thickets. Palm trees are also widespread in the African savannas, where they can easily withstand drought and hot winds.
Forms and structural features of palm trees
Palm trees are distinguished by a wide variety of growth forms:
- treelike: Cuban, royal, umbrella-shaped corypha; washingtonia thread; barrigona, hyphaena of Thebes (doom-palm);
- shrubby: chamedorea lanceolate, acelorapha;
- stemless: shrub saw palmetto, Wallich herring, creeping saw palmetto;
- climbing vines: calamus.
The original features of the structure of palm trees are that the plant does not have the usual botanical elements, such as the trunk and branches:
- Its "trunk" is formed from the remnants of obsolete leaves, which harden and form a column; it can only grow upward, but not in width, and this process is quite long (1 m grows in 10 years);
- the roots form a bulb at the base, from which small roots extend;
- nutritious juices circulate only in the center of the "trunk", due to which palms are considered fireproof;
- due to the ability of the leaves to re-germinate from their own trunk, this plant is called the "phoenix tree".
Among the palm trees there are mono- and dioecious plants, in the second option there are male plants that pollinate the female, respectively, the fruits are only on the latter. In nature, pollination occurs with the help of the wind, and in cultivated plantings, people do it manually. Fruit ripening lasts about 200 days.
Palm tree fruits
Palm is one of the most useful plants for humans, because many of its varieties give very tasty and even medicinal fruits: dates, coconuts, etc. They are used to make flour, oil, alcoholic beverages, and fibers are also produced on an industrial scale, from which bags and other fabric products.
The most useful fruits for humans that grow on a palm tree are dates and coconuts.
The date is a cylindrical berry with a thin peel, its average weight is 7 g, of which 2 g falls on the seed. The sugar content in it reaches 70%, the calorie content is 30 kcal / pc. 10 dates a day provide the human body's daily need for magnesium, sulfur, copper, iron and a quarter of calcium.
Many tasty and healthy ingredients are extracted from the coconut:
- juice or water - a clear liquid, coconut endosperm contained inside the fruit, as it ripens, it mixes with oil and hardens;
- coconut milk - obtained after pressing grated copra, it is white and quite fat, after adding sugar it is very tasty;
- oil - extracted from coconut copra, is a valuable product due to its high content of fatty acids, used in cosmetics and medical treatment.
Coconut palm
It is not for nothing that this plant is called the “tree of life” in the tropics, because the locals use almost all of its parts for food and the manufacture of various products, leaves and wood are used in construction.
However, for unlucky people, this palm tree can become a “tree of death”, since according to statistics, 150 people die from blows of such nuts on the head every year. The weight of an average coconut is about 1-3 kg, so dropping it even on the roof of a car leaves a dent, and it is deadly for the head.
Coconut fruits grow in groups of 15-20 pcs. and ripen in 8-10 months. Fruiting in trees lasts up to 50 years, during this period each palm brings 60-120 nuts annually.
Outside, the coconut is covered with a tough shell, inside there is pulp and liquid, which becomes sweet as the fruit ripens. You can clean it with a knife or machete.
Date palm
Date palms have been cultivated in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) since the 4th century BC. NS. The tree bears fruit for 60-80 years, and can live up to 150.
Legends are made about the benefits and calorie content of the fruits of the date palm. So, the Arabs believe that every warrior can live in the desert for 3 days, eating 1 date, eating first the pulp, then the skin, on the 3rd day - the ground bone. Regular consumption of these fruits in food reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, slows down the aging process.
One of the resorts of Elche in Spain is famous for its park of date palms (since 2000 the park has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List), of which about 300 thousand have been planted here, dates are harvested here regularly.
Roystowna palm
Royal palm ( Roystonea) - has a chic look corresponding to the name, standing out from its surroundings and landscape. The height of the tree can reach 40 m, the trunk is smooth gray, at its top there is a crown of huge feathery leaves up to 8 m long and 2 m wide.The plant is monoecious: male and female flowers are located on the same tree below the crown.
Roystouneya has 17 species, distributed in the southern states of the United States, in Central and South America, in the West Indies. The most popular species are the Cuban palm ( Roystonea regia) and the royal vegetable palm, from which the edible, succulent apical buds, called "kale", are harvested.
Roystones are planted as a decorative decoration along boulevards and avenues in cities of the tropical region, along the edge of beaches, they are often used for decoration in landscape design.
Everything that grows on the Roystonee palm tree is successfully used by humans: the trunks are used in construction, the leaves and fibers are used for the manufacture of roofing and wickerwork, the fruits are eaten with pleasure by livestock, and palm oil is produced from the seeds.
Bismarckia noble
Rod Bismarckia ( Bismarckia nobilis) includes the only species, which is also called the Bismarck palm, named after the 1st chancellor of Germany. This drought-resistant tree is distinguished by its original appearance and color, and is widespread on the island of Madagascar.
The petioles grow from a single gray-yellow-brown trunk with annular depressions (45 to 80 cm in diameter at the base). In nature, palm trees grow up to 12-25 m tall. Beautiful silvery-blue rounded leaves reach 3 m, dividing into segments at the ends. The petioles are 2-3 m long, protected by thorns and covered with white wax.
The plant is dioecious, flowers grow on dark purple stems, fruits are brown ovoid up to 48 cm in length, inside there is a drupe with one seed. Bismarckia leaves are used for the manufacture of roofing and wickerwork; sago with a bitter taste is prepared from the core.
Such a palm tree can be successfully grown at home, it looks spectacular in the interior and is unpretentious in care.
Decorative and indoor palms
For lovers of exotic plants, palm trees are great, since growing them at home does not present any difficulties in care. In the countries of the European region and Russia, ornamental palm trees take root best in winter gardens and greenhouses, where you can create a suitable microclimate for them, because the plant is still southern and thermophilic.
The plant propagates by seeds, which can be found in specialized flower shops. The most common species that can be grown in apartments and houses:
- Date palm, often grown from seed, at home it can grow up to 2 m, forming a lush crown over a shaggy trunk.
- Dracaena has been used for several 10 years in the gardening of houses and apartments, propagates by seeds and cuttings, the leaves are light or dark green in color, less often striped, can form several trunks.
- Areca - has a flexible trunk, decorated with feathery leaves of a meter in length.
- Trachikarpus is a decorative type of palm trees with an original bottle-shaped trunk and fan-shaped leaves; it blooms with white and yellow flowers with a pleasant smell; the fruits are blue-black in color.
- Hovea Foster is a popular species, easy to care for, little susceptible to attack by pests and diseases, the leaves are dark green, etc.
Caring for a palm tree in an apartment
The most important rule when growing a decorative palm tree at home is to create high humidity and proper lighting. With dry air in the apartment due to winter heating, the plants must be frequently sprayed and watered with distilled or filtered water: in the summer months - 2-3 times a week, in the winter - every day.
Every year, a young palm tree needs to be replanted, picking up a more spacious pot, older trees - less often. Plants and their roots are afraid of drafts, so it is not recommended to put the tubs on the windowsill or on the floor. Many types of palms cannot tolerate direct sunlight, preferring bright and diffused lighting.
However, at home, all plants only bloom, and the rare set fruits never ripen. Thus, it will not be possible to find out what is growing on the palm tree, but an exotic green beauty in a tub in the middle of the house will create a cozy tropical corner and a positive emotional atmosphere.
The scientific name for the coconut tree is 'Cocos nucifera'. The word ‘cocos’ is probably derived from the Portuguese word ‘coco’ (monkey), as the coconut slightly resembles a monkey's face. The word 'nucifera' is derived from Latin roots and means 'nut tree'. Coconut belongs to the palm family. Recognizable at first glance, the trunks, wide at the base, end with a huge crown of leaves in the form of a plume. The trunk of a coconut tree is gray and smooth, its surface is covered with ring cracks left by fallen leaves.
The growth of a coconut tree is very peculiar, it all starts with the fruits - coconuts, which, having fallen to the ground, begin to sprout. Due to the reserves of substances in the nut, the sprout that emerged from the nut begins to grow: first it becomes a rosette of small leaves, then they grow. During this period, the coconut does not have a trunk, only leaves and a palm bud grow, as soon as the bud reaches a certain size, the palm tree will begin to stretch in height. The formation of a coconut tree occurs in two stages - first, the bud develops, then the trunk grows.
Until a coconut grows large, and it can easily grow up to 25 meters, it remains young. In addition, if you look at a young coconut tree, you will be surprised by its diameter, it is the same as that of an adult coconut. If you take the trunk of any other tree, then you will see that the trunk of a young tree is not thicker than a little finger, and when it grows, the base of the trunk greatly increases, and continues to grow throughout life - the thin stem turns into a thick trunk. In a coconut palm, the opposite is true, although there is also a thickening at the base of the trunk of an adult tree, but it serves exclusively for stores of substances, it does not play any mechanical role - it is a store of nutrients. At the age of five, the coconut is already capable of bearing fruit. If a coconut tree is not afflicted with disease or damaged by a cyclone, then it can live up to a hundred years. The rings on the trunk, which are fairly evenly spaced, show the age of the palm tree. Each year, the same number of leaves appears on a palm tree - this is a constant process and this is one of the reasons why the coconut tree does not tolerate dry periods or rainy seasons very badly - it is a tropical tree.
The branches of coconut trees are 4 to 6 meters long. The more or less curved, firm, emerald green perennial leaves are devoid of thorns. The leaf crown has about 30 branches, the base of each almost completely encloses the trunk and therefore the branches can resist strong winds. There are flowers in the bosom of the branches. The coconut palm is self-pollinating, its female flowers, located at the bottom of the spikelets, are in the shape of peas 2 - 3 cm in diameter, usually there are 20 - 30 of them, but the number of peas can reach several hundred. Male flowers, more numerous, occupy the upper part of the spikelets. After pollination, the fruit appears. Coconut growth lasts 4 to 10 months. The coconut tree bears its first fruits at the age of 5 to 6 years and reaches its maximum yield by 15 years. An adult palm tree can produce 50 to 500 coconuts per year. After 50 years, its productivity drops noticeably. The fruits can be picked green by removing them from palms, or by picking up ripe nuts that have fallen to the ground. It takes almost a year before the nut reaches full maturity.
Due to the structure of the nut, the coconut tree conquers large areas. Composed of fiber and very hard, the walnut is able to swim well, so if a coconut that has fallen from a palm tree falls into the sea, it is easily carried away by the currents of the sea. Sooner or later, the nut will be on the shore and begin to sprout, so coconut palms are able to colonize entire beaches all over the world. It is clear that in this way coconut palms cannot get into the mountains, moreover, they are unlikely to withstand the mountain climate, coconut palms do not survive where the average annual temperature is below 20 ° C. If you see a coconut tree, then the average annual temperature in this place is above 20 ° C. A coconut is able to germinate even after several months of swimming, with a passing current, it can travel 5 thousand kilometers, but this alone cannot explain such a wide distribution of coconut trees on the planet. They were brought to some parts of the world by humans, such as the Wallis Islands in the South Pacific. They probably came to the Fiji Islands from Southeast Asia 2.5 thousand years BC, and a thousand years later to the islands of Tonga and Samoa. And then in the 4th century they settled on the Marquesas Islands, in the next century on Easter Island, and a hundred years later in Hawaii. Sailing in waves or in holds, these nuts reached the west coast of Panama in Central America in the 14th century. Beginning in the 16th century, Portuguese and Spanish seafarers brought them to West Africa and North America. In the Caribbean, the first coconuts appeared in Puerto Rico in the early 17th century. From this time on, coconut palms began to spread in the Lesser and Greater Antilles.
The liquid contained in unripe nuts is drunk as a soft drink. During World War II, this liquid was used as a saline solution. But, you can drink coconut juice only at the first stage of coconut ripening, but you should not drink juice at the last stage of ripening, otherwise you can get an upset stomach. Coconut is rich in potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and zinc. The nut has a very high nutritional value. The pulp of a ripe nut is edible and is used in many tropical dishes because of its characteristic aroma. The dried pulp, which is 60% lipid, is called 'copra' and is used to make the butter used in margarine, soap and mono-scented oil. Craftsmen use absolutely everything - trunk, nuts, coconut branches. Lanterns, drums, sculptures and great amount other interesting things - craftsmen compete in ingenuity.
The coconut tree is widely used in Polynesia, and even ships are built from it. Immigrants from South-East Asia - the peoples who settled this area in Oceania 3.5 thousand years ago, furrowed the whole of Polynesia, deepening deeper and deeper into the Pacific Ocean in order to land and populate the islands of the Polynesian triangle. The people of Wallis retained their knack for building and managing long tarts under sail. The handcrafted mast and sail are attached to boats made from the trunk of a coconut tree, which can be up to 10 meters in length.
The coconut is a very hardy plant, however, a long-standing disease common to Cayman Island palms is starting to spread throughout the Caribbean. The disease begins with blackening of the fruits and inflorescences, then the palm branches turn yellow and fall off, leaving the trunk completely naked. This disease causes great damage wherever it appears, but it is impossible to accurately predict the direction of its spread. Probably, it is carried by some kind of insects, but so far the only way to fight it is to cut down diseased palms.
Widespread in all tropical latitudes of the planet, the coconut palm is found not only in the coastal strip, but also on the plains. For travelers, it has become a symbol of exotic vacation, however, it occupies an important place not only in this idyllic picture, but also in Everyday life local population. People appreciate the coconut tree for its milk and the pulp of its fruit. Its trunk and branches are used in a wide variety of ways - for creating souvenirs, in construction and cosmetology. The coconut palm, like no other tree, is highly prized by people. From Southeast Asia to the Antilles, from Africa to the Pacific Islands, the coconut palm is not just a tree, it is a tree of life.