Cayman Islands Native Palm

[buffy]

Hey Guys and Girls! I am suffering through 80F days while my palms in East Texas suffer and die. So much for pity. Well, I am sitting here on Grand Cayman and wondering what species of Coccothrinax I am seeing sprinkled about. The only uniqu thing is the silver bottoms on the leaves. I can see why a lot of you guys love the Coccothrinaxes. Small compact little suckers. Dainty almost. - Buffy

[velutina]

Maybe Coccothrinax proctorii? http://palmguide.org/image.php?image=59627A_2004101461225

[buffy]

That's the one. Pretty cool fella. They're littered around this place.

[buffy]

OK. Next question. Coccothrinax. Larger leaves than the Cayman Thatch Palm. Fruit are the whitest of white. Whiter than I have ever seen in palm fruit. The undersides of the leaves are not white. Just regular green. Seeds slightly larger than the Cayman Thatch.

[AggiePalms]

Boy, give us an easy follow up question! There are only 50 species in the Caribbean basin, you know. Green undersides of leaves bigger than C. proctori, with very white seeds... As a pure guess, just from distribution, I would go for inaguaensis or miraguama arenicola...but I don't remember seed colors that well; it has been a while since I've been down there. I think leaves on both of these species are larger than C. proctori. I will just put these two suggestions out there for the Caribbean experts to shoot down.

How tall are these; do they have a fibrous covering on the trunk? How many leaves in the crown? And of course a picture would help.

Just enjoy the tropical palms while you are there; you couldn't grow any of those species in Longview even with the mildest of winters.

C. miraguama arenicola:

http://www.palmguide.org/image.php?image=88402A_2004111659533

C. inaguensis

http://www.palmguide.org/image.php?image=58650A_2005062159702

[buffy]

Just enjoy the tropical palms while you are there; you couldn't grow any of those species in Longview even with the mildest of winters.

......and that's why I have a large greenhouse for potted plants just like this. Cold hardy palms in the ground. Tropical palms in large containers. The Coccothrinax palms are very much right-sized for containers. Together this makes my house an incredibly palmy place.

One more thing. You'd also be surprised what you can grow in between a house and a large heated pool. Add a few radiant heat panels. Viola.

[DoomsDave]

Buff:

Can you take some pictures? In particular, the whole palm, close ups of the trunk, the bases of the leaves, and any flowers/infructescenses?

There's probably half a dozen species that fit your general (if loving and enthusiastic!) description.

I'm dying of curiosity . . . .

dave

[PalmatierMeg]

Yes, please take photos. I don't have C. proctorii but would love to add one to my Caribbean garden. Most Coccos have black/purple fruit but at least one, newly described in the last issue of Palms, has white seeds. I'd have to check my copy at home to be sure. So not unheard of.

[GTClover]

Just happen to have "Palms" right here. The white fruited species just described is C torrida found on the "hot dry SE coast" of Cuba. It has a somewhat unique looking upper trunk "covered with stiff sheath fibers", so a picture of the upper trunk would most likely be telling.

Susan

[PalmatierMeg]

Thanks, Susan. I kept thinking C. munzii but somehow that didn't sound right. Two more Coccos I wish I had.

[buffy]

Give me a couple of days to get the picture and post it.

[GTClover]

Thanks, Susan. I kept thinking C. munzii but somehow that didn't sound right. Two more Coccos I wish I had.

NP Meg, not too long ago I didn't know a Coco from a Cocco! Right about now though, I'm feeling sorry for myself because I only have pictures to look at these days. Sure would be nice to have a palm tour of all those Cuban Cocco's wouldn't it?

Susan

[Caribbean Palms]

OK. Next question. Coccothrinax. Larger leaves than the Cayman Thatch Palm. Fruit are the whitest of white. Whiter than I have ever seen in palm fruit. The undersides of the leaves are not white. Just regular green. Seeds slightly larger than the Cayman Thatch.

My 2cents worth.....

With white seeds and green on the bottom of the leaves, if the stem splits where it attaches to the trunk, then I'd say THRINAX radiata.

[cfkingfish]

I remember seeing a strand of them about 10km outside of Georgetown (C. readii/proctorii). They were fairly tall and I had no binoculars, but they were few and far between. It is a very dry island, I can imagine they are even more drought tolerant than other Coccos.

[buffy]

OK. Next question. Coccothrinax. Larger leaves than the Cayman Thatch Palm. Fruit are the whitest of white. Whiter than I have ever seen in palm fruit. The undersides of the leaves are not white. Just regular green. Seeds slightly larger than the Cayman Thatch.

My 2cents worth.....

With white seeds and green on the bottom of the leaves, if the stem splits where it attaches to the trunk, then I'd say THRINAX radiata.

Confirmed. Thrinax radiata. Reviewed my pictures and looked at images on the web. I'll still get some of these pictures up later.

[buffy]

I remember seeing a strand of them about 10km outside of Georgetown (C. readii/proctorii). They were fairly tall and I had no binoculars, but they were few and far between. It is a very dry island, I can imagine they are even more drought tolerant than other Coccos.

These native Coccos are everywhere if you start looking for them. I really enjoyed their botanical garden.

[PalmatierMeg]

Thanks, Susan. I kept thinking C. munzii but somehow that didn't sound right. Two more Coccos I wish I had.

NP Meg, not too long ago I didn't know a Coco from a Cocco! Right about now though, I'm feeling sorry for myself because I only have pictures to look at these days. Sure would be nice to have a palm tour of all those Cuban Cocco's wouldn't it?

Susan

I would love that. But it won't happen while the Castro brothers are in charge. Oops, no political commentary intended.

[mjff]

Just happen to have "Palms" right here. The white fruited species just described is C torrida found on the "hot dry SE coast" of Cuba. It has a somewhat unique looking upper trunk "covered with stiff sheath fibers", so a picture of the upper trunk would most likely be telling.

Susan

I wonder how cold hardy C. torrida is. Generally palms from very dry areas are pretty cold hardy. Are there any that are producing seed outside Cuba. I seem to recall that Palms article saying that seeds had been sent to various growers and institutions in 2000. Surely some of those plants are producing seed now. It said Fairchild produced plants. Anybody seen them there?

[SouthFLA]

I was in the Cayman Islands last week and got to see these palms in their native habitat. I collected a bag full of seeds of Coccothrinax proctorii from the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park. These palms are prolific in this preserve and there were many mature specimens. It was fascinating to see how they grow in such a harsh environment. They grow directly on dogtooth limestone with no soil at all. The area is subject to brackish tidal flooding. The last pic below is in Georgetown, there were a few growing in the main town square on the main island. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by SouthFLA

[Xerarch]

On 2/13/2011 at 7:42 AM, buffy said:

 

Confirmed. Thrinax radiata. Reviewed my pictures and looked at images on the web. I'll still get some of these pictures up later.

11 years and counting 

[buffy]

2 hours ago, Xerarch said:

11 years and counting 

They walked off at some point in the past two years.