Have You Been Hurt By A Palm?

[Dypsisdean]

During a recent discussion, it came to my attention that I am not the only one who has been stabbed, more than a little, by a palm. In fact, most everyone I know that has a Phoenix in their garden has been stabbed badly enough for it to be considered a bigger injury than your typical garden variety.

Palms have found ways to injure me in a variety of ways. Is it just me, or does it just come with the territory?

So, I was curious. And this seemed like a good way to find out. You can pick more than one choice.

Please note: heartbreak does not qualify.

[Jeff Searle]

In my 30 plus years, I wish I had a dollar for everytime I got stabbed, poked or ripped skin from mostly Phoenix palms and many a leaf base from Copernicias. It really husts like hell most of the time and I have the upmost respect while trimming these leaves.

[redbeard917]

Yes, carrying trimmed Livistona and Washingtonia fronds is not something I do carelessly anymore. One that might surprise some people for never really hurting me is the ferociously-named saw palmetto. I've walked through many thick palmetto woods wearing nothing but shorts and flip flops without a scratch. The armament is far down the petiole away from the leaf, and pretty unimpressive compared to other palm species.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Yes, the worst offenders for me are Phoenix and Copernicia. Copernicias are worth it, IMO, Phoenix are not so I won't have one in my landscape.

Bactris and Astrocaryum get special mention.

[MKIVRYAN]

Only my ego so far.

[quaman58]

Yup, been stabbed by every spiny palm in the yard. The best was having a couple spines from a Chamerops actually break off the petiole & embed in my head, while I was pruning it. Does falling off a ladder last week while reaching up with a pole saw count? Fortunately a couple landscaping rocks broke my fall.

[Dr. George]

No Phoenix in the garden, but when cleaning up we try to minimize confrontations with the Saribus rotundifolius, Elaeis oleifera and the young Verschaffeltia splendida. - gmp

[Pando]

Calyptrocalyx leptostachys bit me in the ankle once...

[Hammer]

Everytime one dies on me.

[DoomsDave]

I've been stabbed by spiny palms, or slashed by them. The worst was a nasty cut from a Copernicia alba; the recurved thorns on its petioles are like cat claws. Livistonas also make nasty little cuts, except for saribus which can make nasty big ones.

I got poked in the eye once by a Rhopalostylus baueri spear. It made my eye red for a while, but no lingering problems.

Having read the stories of Phoenix stabbings (and watching the travails of a worker who fell into the crown of a CIDP from a skyscraper ) I'm super careful around them. Same goes for Acrocomias and Aiphane.

The unexpected nasty injury was a cut from an Archontophoenix petiole I grabbed and tried to yank off a palm. The leaf didn't want to come off and the razor-sharp edge of the petiole gave me a nasty cut on my fingers.

So far, no need for trips to the doctors, though that cut from the Archie came close.

[Phoenikakias]

I've been stabbed by spiny palms, or slashed by them. The worst was a nasty cut from a Copernicia alba; the recurved thorns on its petioles are like cat claws. Livistonas also make nasty little cuts, except for saribus which can make nasty big ones.

I got poked in the eye once by a Rhopalostylus baueri spear. It made my eye red for a while, but no lingering problems.

Having read the stories of Phoenix stabbings (and watching the travails of a worker who fell into the crown of a CIDP from a skyscraper ) I'm super careful around them. Same goes for Acrocomias and Aiphane.

The unexpected nasty injury was a cut from an Archontophoenix petiole I grabbed and tried to yank off a palm. The leaf didn't want to come off and the razor-sharp edge of the petiole gave me a nasty cut on my fingers.

So far, no need for trips to the doctors, though that cut from the Archie came close.

More than once similiar accident happened on me through a Sabal sp involved...

[Tropicdoc]

My daughter was scratched by Copernicia alba the first day I got it from _Keith. I am thinking of giving it back to him and completely avoiding armed palms in my landscape. There are too many other palms to plant. I would like my kids to be able to play hide and seek in my jungle without injury.

[Walter John]

My infatuation with Livistona decora has caused me injury on numerous occasions, love it, like war wounds to brag about. My brother in law had a long time infection from a Phoenix Palm though.

[Mike Evans]

Forget the Phoenix palms, I cut them all down long ago. I made the mistake of grabbing a royal leaf that was hanging down. I could just barely reach it. I gave it a tug and the tip of the leaf punched through my upper lip. There was about 45# of force behind it. I was a bloody mess and mouth was completely numb. I had to feel if my teeth it see if they were intact. Never will do that again. The other day I was taking a pic of a Carpoxylon, and grabbed the old dead leaf by the petiole to tear it off. The leaf did not move but my hand slid across the knife sharp petiole. Left a trail of blood into the house. Just a few of the escapades in the garden. Its great growing palms!

[DoomsDave]

Forget the Phoenix palms, I cut them all down long ago. I made the mistake of grabbing a royal leaf that was hanging down. I could just barely reach it. I gave it a tug and the tip of the leaf punched through my upper lip. There was about 45# of force behind it. I was a bloody mess and mouth was completely numb. I had to feel if my teeth it see if they were intact. Never will do that again. The other day I was taking a pic of a Carpoxylon, and grabbed the old dead leaf by the petiole to tear it off. The leaf did not move but my hand slid across the knife sharp petiole. Left a trail of blood into the house. Just a few of the escapades in the garden. Its great growing palms!

OUCH :bemused: :bemused:

Hope you recovered from the Royal mishap . . .

[Josh-O]

I once got brutalized by a big trithrinax campestris.. It took me off line for a few days.

[edbrown_III]

I got my heart broken by a few species

[Cocoa Beach Jason]

Had a canary island date palm leaf fall from about 15 ft driving a spine in between two fingers going a couple inches deep. Had to pull it out with pliers. I hated it obviously but it could have been way worse.

[Palmdude]

Fell into the crown of a CIDP from a skyscraper! Good Gawd Y'all!

Seems the innocuous looking palms are the ones to look out for. I've cut my fingers on the petioles of my sabals and my Bizzy. Livistona Decipiens is just plain gnarly, I've had to pick the recurved spines out of my arm a few times. Those things don't mess around they dig in then snap off when you pull away and lodge into your skin

Wound up at the chiropractors after planting 6 triple Roebelinis with about 6 feet of trunk and huge rootballs by myself one day.

My brother in law has a terrible reaction to phoenix spines, especially Roebelinis. If he gets stuck he gets a bad infection and winds up at the doctors for antibiotics or something.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Palmdude

[_Keith]

Get nailed every time I work with them, aka pruning dead fronds, but never badly. Just enough to make me curse a bit.

[Palmdude]

Ooh and how could I forget! I saw a landscaper at my friends house with a CIDP spine that went into the cuticle of his finger and went like four inches right into his Middle finger, I just got goosebumps thinking about that. Not a good day for that poor guy! I've heard lots of gruesome CIDP stories. Like through the palm and out the back of the hand. Scared me enough to be very careful but it seems no matter how cautios you are they still manage to poke you

Edited November 25, 2014 by Palmdude

[Jim in Los Altos]

The scar in my upper chin is from a split that required eleven stitches after a Washingtonia petiole fell from a hundred feet up and freakishly hit me while I was innocently walking to my front door. Man that wound bled! The rest of injuries center around being stabbed or scraped by Trithrinax, Phoenix, Livistona, Licuala, and even Butia. Then there's the eye pokes from the emerging spears of Bismarkia, Rhopalostylis, Archontophonix, and Caryota. What we do for the love of palms!

[Palmə häl′ik]

Copernicia alba hooks while weed whackin.

[Tropicgardener]

For me forays into Queensland's rainforests have on many occasions put me in direct contact with Calamus species........... Numerous times I have found myself torn open by the climbing whip like flagella or cirri (depending on the species that I have blundered into).

[Justin]

Lucky so far with the palms themselves, aside from some sore backs (from moving big pots around). Less lucky with the fire ants living on the palms, however.

[Palmdude]

Andrew when I was in Australia I had this dream of buying or ideally salvageing a sunken 60-70 foot sailboat off the reef and captaining it, like a floating bed and breakfast, and I imagined being stationed in the Whitsundays, and surfing the Great Barrier Reef, ok now back to being tortured by palms

Edited November 26, 2014 by Palmdude

[Kostas]

Slashed and stabbed on various occasions from W. robusta, Acanthophoenix rubra, Acrocomia aculeata, Chamaerops humilis and small Livistona mariae. Worst have been some cuts from the Washingtonia and stabs by Acanthophoenix.

I lost my balance once while doing maintenance near the Acanthophoenix and put my hand on the ground hard to prevent a fall. There it happened to be the very spiny crownshaft section of an Acanthophoenix dead leaf and one of the spines went all the way to the bone. I pulled it out(as well as the rest of the spine tips lodged in various parts of the palm)and the area close to the bone felt sore for a couple weeks but all was well in the end.

I have had 2 close calls with falling dead leafs, one with a W. robusta leaf crushing down a meter from me outside Tampa Aquarium while standing for a photo and another was with a Phoenix canariensis leaf which was to fall exactly where i was but i heard it break free from the palm and moved away just in time before it crushed there.

Phoenix canariensis have always been kind to me, i have been playing among them since early childhood and never got anything but a pleasant feeling from it

[NorthFlpalmguy]

I had Washys cuts on my arms from bear hugging one while we were pulling it up with the tractor trying to stabilize it.

I am terrible about having chamerops thorns in my fingers as I do not like wearing gloves regularly. I try to only plant thornless palms now.. and I stay away from the Phoenixes for this reason.

[Darold Petty]

Personally, only minor issues with Phoenix and Chamaerops.

however..

Many years ago a friend was duck hunting and fell backwards into the crown of an adolescent Phoenix canariensis. One cheek of his buttocks was completely impaled from the 'plumbers crack' all the way through to the outer side. He couldn't sit down for several weeks.

[floridascape]

... is it just me or is trying to not get stabbed half the fun??? Aiphanes, acrocomia, copernicia are all my favorites oh and lets not forget cycads especially huge enceohalartos.

[Patrick]

When I'm cleaning up the yard I've come to accept that you're going to get poked, slashed, sliced, cut, jabbed or gored eventually....today.

[Tropicgardener]

Palmdude, actually there is a an abandoned 3 mast sailing boat sitting in shallow water off Airlie Beach, multimillion dollar vessel but the owner went broke and can't salvage it........this could be your golden opportunity.......Palmy sailing tours of the tropical Whitsunday Islands

[John Case]

Trithrinax campestris and against Washingtonias.......minor but painful........not to mention trimming a Livistona australis

[BS Man about Palms]

I'm a little heart broken that the heart-broken option was not also listed...

[Bigfish]

Well I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Rhapidophyllum hystrix yet! I never seem to be fully prepared with protection measures when it comes time to collect seeds from them. I always manage to get stabbed by those needles, usually many times in each hand. The fun part is that the tips of the needles break off in your hands! I was pulling out little splinters for days.

My dad got gashed really good once from a Washingtonia petiole as he drove past with the lawn mower at an irresponsible rate of speed. As many of my palms as he has killed with that damn lawnmower though, maybe this was a little revenge from one of them, lol.

[jfrye01@live.com]

Tying up the fronds on my largest washingtonia, cut my thumb the bone on one of the spines...probably should've had stitches, but stuck a bandaid and called it good. It will probably scar permanently, and I will forever have memories of the time my beloved washy injured me while I was trying to protect it... ;-;

[Exotic Life]

I have been stabbed many times by my CIDP to keep it surviving during winter. That means I am gentle to her but she is not gentle to me...

[Scot from SC]

I usually get a few scratches from my Butias when I trim the old, dried fronds.

[Mandrew968]

Verschafeltia--my neighbor's palm. It helped me learn, you only weed your own spiny palms! Also almost cut my wrist open on the knife edge of a Bizzy petiole; they may not have thorns but they are still very dangerous...

It also seems like everytime, I go to weed one of my Copernicias, when I pull back, I have at least two or three petiole spines, come off recurved into my arms--anyone else have to pull out Copernicia thorns from their arms and fingers? My youngest son, Drake, had a couple fordiana thorns come off in his hand. He doesn't feel pain, though like the rest of us; his older brother cried almost all night when his mom told him to hide under the berteroana, during a hide and seek game, at night. He had some nice scratches on his head and respects Copernicias like he does Aiphanes(his favorite palm), now! Palm Family growing pains! Good topic, Dean! I imagine the Cycad people have a lot to add too.

[smithgn]

Just sustained my first palm injury worth sharing... Nothing gruesome, but still worth sharing.

I put a Phoenix sylvestris in ground from it's pot. As a precaution to it's dainty but spiny tips, I cut the lower dead fronds and cut a few more that were badly damaged from the cold we received. I finally put the sylvestris in ground and was in the act of repositioning it, I tipped it forward one way and let it come back towards me- bam! got stabbed in the cranium with a spine (I was kneeling down).

Next injury came at the very end when I did the very same action, this time, I got stabbed right in the medial deltoid. It kept hurting but I didn't pay much attention to it. Just a few hours ago while I was ready to hop in the shower, I noticed a tip of the spine was stuck in my arm. I pulled it... and pulled it and a few millimeters later, it came out! No wonder it kept hurting! Maybe the sylvestris wanted to stay in its pot? Lol