New Dwarf Trees Set to Revolutionize Palm Oil Market

[Hillizard]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-03/short-and-skinny-oil-palms-to-boost-world-s-most-used-edible-oil

"The commodity [palm oil], used in everything from chocolate and cosmetics to car fuel, is mired in controversy as native tropical rain forests inhabited by orangutan, rhinoceroses and other endangered species have increasingly made way for oil-palm groves. "

[PalmatierMeg]

Interesting. Smaller oil palms might have a landscaping value. I know many people loathe this palm but I like its "Jurassic Park" vibe. I'm also encouraged by Indonesia's moratorium on clearing native forest to create oil plantations.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

This is slightly off topic but i saw what appeared to be dwarf bismarckia planted down off the turnpike heading into miami a few weeks ago.  Trunk and canopy size was the same as a palmetto with 6-8' of trunk and they were already fruiting.  They had them planted right in front of normal bismarckia.  Anyone seen these or know what's going on?

[Beespalms]

FYI: Those are blue lantana, not Bismarck’s. Along the turnpike in south Florida 

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

That was part of the Manny Diaz nursery clean out deal where he just made a deal with the DOT to landscape the turnpike with anything he wanted.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Ahh, Gotcha. I wasn't expecting Latana Loddigesii in a DOT planting.  Thanks for clearing that up.

[Zeeth]

9 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Ahh, Gotcha. I wasn't expecting Latana Loddigesii in a DOT planting.  Thanks for clearing that up.

There's a bunch of random stuff on the I-75 interchange in Ellenton, including lots of Latania and a few Elaeis guineensis. 

[redant]

The Jupiter I95 exit is loaded with lots of nice palms after a recent upgrade include some very large mules.

 

[Eric in Orlando]

Same up in Orlando. Just west of Orlando where the Turnpike meets the 429 and at the Turnpike/408, lots of palms and different specimens like XButyagrus, Bismarckia, Livistona decora, L. nitida, Sabal causiarum and tons of Phoenix. Down by Disney where the 429 ends at I4 they planted Copernicia alba. 

Hope this kind of planting gets down in Orlando when the I4 trainwreck is finished.

[Eric in Orlando]

Also along the Turnpike somewhere around Ft. Pierce are a couple of places they have planted Bismarckia and Latania together.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

FDOT has changed its landscaping policies a few years ago and now is putting in some things with a little imagination.  Not that DOT has any imagination, they contract out Landscape Architects for that.  They also hold the contractors for much longer establishment periods to ensure that all the new stuff they paid for sticks around for a while.