Monthly Update August 2010

FEATURED THIS MONTH: saribus

Livistona saribus growing in John Kennedy’s garden in Vero Beach. (Photo by John Kennedy)

Livistona saribus petiole (Photo by John Kennedy)

FRONT COVER: Livistona saribus growing in Dale Holton’s garden.

(Photo by Charlie Beck) 2 FEATURED THIS MONTH: Taraw Palm Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society Officers (Livistona saribus): Tough and Hardy by John Kennedy Betty Ahlborn, President (561) 722-8106 Tom Ramiccio, First Vice President, Sales (561) 582-5915 After a near-death (?) freeze think) the upper 20s. Warmth, Marshall Dewey, Second Vice President, Planting experience, many palm collectors meaning 70º, didn’t return for four Dale Holton, Third Vice President, Programs (561) 965-6792 decide—for a while, anyway—to be days, though successive nights were Ruth Sallenbach, Secretary (561) 965-5430 sensible, to only that in the 40s. Do understand that my Ingrid Dewey, Treasurer won’t be damaged or killed in cold memories—except of that single Kitty Philips, Acting Membership Chairman snaps. Of course, ‘cold snap’ may be horrifying 18º--remain mercifully Brenda Beck, Editor & Historian (561) 963-5511 too mild a term for my experience of murky and blocked. It was helpful Appointees last winter: nine nights below freez- that there were no further freezes Charles Beck, Librarian ing in January and February. Mostly later in the winter. Marty Dougherty, Web Master this was no lower than 30º for an For a month, the prevailing Ruth Lynch, Refreshment Chairman (561) 312-5046 hour or two, but once to 27º. One odor in Vero Beach was of rotting Kitty Philips & Susan Cioci, Activities & Events Coordinators night was 10 hours below freezing; vegetation. Huge piles of dead and daytime temperatures seldom got decaying bougainvillea, crotons, VISIT US AT palmbeachpalmcycadsociety.com above the 50s for most of two ixora, hibiscus, etc., royal and coco- months. nut palms (farthest north for these I do recommend, as an undam- on the coast). Christmas Palms, INSIDE THIS ISSUE: aged survivor for more than 25 Adonidia, disappeared from almost years, Livistona saribus, the Taraw every lawn, only to return a few Palm. years ago: most residents have been 4 Featured this Month: Livistona saribus In the 1980s, every winter in here no longer than 5-6 years, so 6 Correction to July article Vero brought as many as three or have no historic memory of the four freezes, with temperatures as Christmas 1989 horrors. 7 Upcoming Meetings low as 26º, at least briefly. The most I had planted in my back yard 8 This Month's “Thank You” memorable cold was on Christmas in 1982, a 1-gallon Livistona saribus 8 Name Drawing Prize Eve night—actually, Christmas purchased from a vendor at the Fair- morning—in 1989, when the tem- child sale. I was a novice in palms, 9 Invasive Non-Native Species Presentation perature plunged to 18º at my house, only about two years, knew next to 11 Zamia vazquezii rose that day to maybe 40º after 12 nothing. The little palm was planted hours below freezing. Christmas in the open, no cover, had grown to night dipped again, but only into (I three feet high when that 18º ar- Opinions expressed and products or recommendations published in this newslet- rived, seven years later. To my ter may not be the opinions or recommendations of the Palm Beach Palm & amazement and relief, it had no Cycad Society or its board of directors. damage whatsoever, covered only with a pillow case. This kind of cold hardiness is nothing short of amazing in a For permission to reproduce any article that appears in this publication, con- coastal-plain palm native to tact the Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society editor at [email protected] (Continued on page 5)

3 4 (Continued from page 4) (Continued from page 5) CORRECTION: In the July th —Malaya, Thai- 12 Place to the south (another un- Monthly Update article “Dr. John land, , . It has paved street). After a hard rain there D. Kennedy Addresses Palm Beach continued to grow, is now 40 feet is often several inches of water in tall, with an 18-inch trunk, and, at the back for a day or two and, of Palm & Cycad Society,” it was a glance, might be taken for a course, the water table isn’t all that stated that Dr. Kennedy recom- medium size Washingtonia. It far down anyway. The little Taraw mended a list of palms contained in was completely untouched by last Palm didn’t remain in the open for his slide presentation. However, Dr. winter’s freezing temperatures long before the smallish laurel oak on Kennedy’s handout included the and lengthy overall chilliness. palms with skinny trunks and tiny the neighbor’s property behind be- following palms that he recom- The bright green deeply co- crowns (dustmops), next to a flat- came a large laurel oak, shading it mends for the Treasure Coast: stapalmate 3-foot leaves seem roofed Florida house! Taraw Palm out. At the same time, the tree pro- longer than wide, and droop more has a thicker trunk and a bigger vided some cover to keep the damp-  Acoelorraphe wrightii (native) than half the segment length. crown: mine now 18 feet across. ness maybe a bit longer than before.  Archontophoenix cunningha- Growth is moderate, with good Dead leaves don’t drop off L. sari- The palm began to lean outward miana response to palm fertilizer. Nice bus immediately, so require the to escape the shade; the tree grew  Arenga engleri looking, yes, but no outstanding attention of those neatly inclined, even bigger. However, the palm won showy features aside from the but are more reachable than a when the tree was trashed in the two  Bismarckia nobilis downward-pointing, elaborate Washingtona palm. They do fall 2004 hurricanes that hit Vero Beach.  Butia capitata spines on the 5-foot petioles. These eventually, and the few hanging With the cover removed, the palm  Caryota mitis look to me like a Javanese kris, to down don’t look as messy as on a zoomed up and, now, with the tree others like shark’s teeth, with a Washingtonia. fully recovered, remains above it.  Chamaerops humilis wide base and curved long point. My experience has been that Volunteers have appeared all  Livistona chinensis But mustn’t forget the fruit, a strik- the leaf bases remain on the palm around; several I’ve left where they  Livistona decora [decipiens] ing metallic blue, thin over a large until it is about 15 years old, adding are, not quite adult leaves, not quite a seed; the squirrels eat the fruit cov- to trunk dimensions, then trunk yet. Small, two-leaf seedlings I  Rhapidophylium hystrix ering, dropping the cleaned seeds (magically?) some signal is given have often pulled up, prior to my  Rhapis excelsa on the ground. and they all begin to come off, re- retirement, and put into plastic  Sabal palmetto (native) There is a form of the Taraw vealing a grayish brown trunk cups—names written on the side—to  Serenoa repens (native) Palm with reddish petioles, very marked with leaf scars. hand out as freebies to my commu- decorative, but apparently not as What did I do right, unknow- nity-college students. But that’s an-  Waodyetia bifurcata cold hardy as the more familiar ingly, with this palm? My policy of other story. *** form (mine) with green petioles. benign neglect worked out (in this *** I have often recommended instance). Where I planted it was a Livistona saribus as a substitute for low point in my backyard, which is Washingtonia. It is readily avail- the low point for the entire block of able but doesn’t grow out of pro- half-acre lots, four on 13th Street portion to its surroundings. Think (my unpaved street) and four on of all those 4-story Washingtonia (Continued on page 6)

Please share your garden experiences. Submit your stories and photos to [email protected]

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GENERAL MEETING General Membership Meeting Refreshments Date: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Charlie & Brenda Beck Shawna Price Time 7:30 p.m. Patt Lindsey John & Nancy Varney Location Mounts Botanical Garden Ruth Lynch Linda Wiringer Subject: Jeff Marcus Garden Tour Slide Presentation (Part I) Lauren & Patrick Morris EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING Plant Donations Betty Ahlborn Dale Holton Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Jack Dewey John Irvine Time: 7:00 p.m. Special Thanks Location: Mounts Botanical Garden to Dennis McKee for arriving at 5:00 p.m. to keep the Mounts building open for us.

PLACE YOUR Business Card Ad, FOR SALE Ad or Discount Coupon $6 PER MONTH OR $66 PER YEAR (approximately 3” X 1 3/4” space) HALF PAGE—$20 A MONTH FULL PAGE—$35 A MONTH Winners of the July 7th Name Drawing Prize were E-mail your ad or any photograph or information you would like included to [email protected]. Lew & Kathy Berger Send your check to: who received a M. Ensinosa numbered print Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society of a Pseudophoenix ekmanii. c/o Brenda Beck P.O. Box 21-2228 Royal Palm Beach, FL 33421 (Check must be received prior to print.)

7 8 INVASIVE NON-NATIVE SPECIES PRESENTATION by Brenda Beck

Kristina Serbesoff-King, Invasive Species Program Manager at Nature Conservancy, was the guest speaker at the July 7th general membership meet- ing. Kristina talked about how Nature Conservancy is working with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other agencies to ad- dress invasive non-native species. Attempts are being made to prevent future problems with invasive by performing a risk assessment of plants, con- ducting pre-import screening, and using predictive tools to determine if a plant may become invasive. To be considered an invasive plant, the plant:  must grow fast and produce lots of seeds  has moved beyond the influence of insects and diseases from the plant’s land of origin  competes with native plants for nutrients, water, sunlight, and space  adversely affects native wildlife and natural communities According to the Florida Exotic Plant Council, Livistona chinensis (Chinese fan palm), Phoenix reclinata (Senegal date palm), Syagrus roman- zoffiana (Queen Palm), and Washingtonia robusta (Washington fan palm) are considered Category II invasive exotics. ***

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! PALM BEACH PALM & CYCAD SOCIETY FALL PLANT SALE

October 9th & 10th At Caloosa Park

Fifteen foot high Livistona saribus with leaf bases growing in Mike More details to follow Dahme’s garden in Grant, Brevard County. (Photo by John Kennedy)

9 10 Zamia vazquezii by Dale Holton

Zamia vazquezii is found in wet lowland forest in deep shade, at elevations of around 2,000 ft. These plants are found in Mexico in the states of Hildago, San Louis Potosi and Veracruz. This Zamia is named in honor of Mario Vazquez Torres. In the past, this plant was falsely called Zamia

fischerii, which it resembles. Update Monthly 2010 August Zamia vazquezii is a very attractive plant and is very easy to grow. It can be grown in shade or full sun, but looks best when grown in some shade. It comes in two forms, one with green emer- gent leaves and the other with bronze emergent leaves. The two forms can only be identified when new leaves are present. Well grown Zamia vazquezii growing in the Holton garden. (Photo by Charlie Beck) plants can have many leaves that can be two to three feet

tall. In containers, they usually lose These plants are not rare in their leaves in the winter, but in the cultivation and can be found in some

ground this usually does not occur. specialty nurseries at very reason- 2228 - At my house, the plants have never able prices. They are easy to propa- been affected by cold. I usually de- gate from seed. The local pollinators foliate my plants in the early spring sometimes pollinate them.

as they tend to get scale and mealy I believe these Zamias are un-

P.O. Box 21 Box P.O. 33421 FL Beach, Palm Royal bug during the dry months. Defoliat- der utilized in landscape plantings. Society Cycad & Palm Beach Palm ing the plants also causes them to These plants look nice as borders make a new full head of leaves. and in clumps and each year the When you don’t defoliate them, they plants get slightly larger. tend to get too many leaves and new *** leaves have a difficult time getting through the old leaves.

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