Dypsis lutescens naturalized in Brevard

[Jimbean]

I've seen a bunch small ones pop up all over south and central Brevard, but this is the biggest one I've seen yet:

 

 

[Ubuntwo]

3 hours ago, Jimbean said:

I've seen a bunch small ones pop up all over south and central Brevard, but this is the biggest one I've seen yet:

 

 

Probably the exotic palm that naturalizes best in south/central Florida. I've seen it everywhere down here.

[ruskinPalms]

Pretty cool!

[hbernstein]

Ecologically, not at all cool.

In coastal South Florida, Ptychosperma lineare, Phoenix senegalensis, and Washintonia robusta are the most naturalized species..

[Jimbean]

In Brevard, we have significant naturalization of Phoenix reclinata, Washintonia robusta, syagrus romanzoffiana, and livistona chinensis.  Insignificantly: Roystonea regia, Phoenix roebelenii, Dypsis lutescens, and Caryota mitis.

I've seen lady palms escape out of people's yards, sprouted coconuts, and in one section of sand dune in Cocoa Beach a group of Thrinax radiata might be taking hold with several volunteers poping up under a canopy of seagrapes.

[ruskinPalms]

What does it take to be defined as a naturalized species? Sustained population with individuals present at all stages of life? There are a lot of palms that will volunteer around here in manatee county but the only palms that I would consider to be naturalized here would be miscellaneous Phoenix hybrids (widespread) and Roystonea regia (isolated population on Snead island). I have seen a population of queen palms in a forested gulley in ruskin, Florida that had palms from seedlings all the way up to very tall adults that created a sizable grove. Certainly I have seen various other palms like Washingtonia pop up here and there but I would consider them volunteers.

Edited February 27, 2019 by ruskinPalms

[Ubuntwo]

1 minute ago, ruskinPalms said:

What does it take to be defined as a naturalized species? Sustained population with individuals present at all stages of life? There are a lot of palms that will volunteer around here in manatee county but the only palms that I would consider to be naturalized here would be miscellaneous Phoenix hybrids (widespread) and Roystonea regia (isolated population on Snead island). I have seen a population of queen palms in a forested gulley in ruskin, Florida that had palms from seedlings all the way up to very tall adults that created a sizable grove. Certainly I have seen various other palms like Washingtonia pop up here and there but I would consider them volunteers.

I don't know how much the Snead Island royals count. I mean half the island was a palm nursery at one point.

[Zeeth]

27 minutes ago, ruskinPalms said:

What does it take to be defined as a naturalized species? Sustained population with individuals present at all stages of life? There are a lot of palms that will volunteer around here in manatee county but the only palms that I would consider to be naturalized here would be miscellaneous Phoenix hybrids (widespread) and Roystonea regia (isolated population on Snead island). I have seen a population of queen palms in a forested gulley in ruskin, Florida that had palms from seedlings all the way up to very tall adults that created a sizable grove. Certainly I have seen various other palms like Washingtonia pop up here and there but I would consider them volunteers.

There are a ton of Livistona chinensis on Snead Island too, and I've seen royals naturalizing in Bradenton quite a bit. There's one with some trunk in the woods as you go on I-75 south towards Sarasota (I forget which mile marker though).

[ruskinPalms]

17 minutes ago, Ubuntwo said:

I don't know how much the Snead Island royals count. I mean half the island was a palm nursery at one point.

I didn’t know it was a nursery at one time. And I haven’t been out there in a long time but I do recall seeing royals all the way from seedlings up to tall adults with sizes in between growing alongside the natural flora of the area. I guess maybe that’s part of my question. How long does a population have to exist and self replicate without any human intervention before it is considered naturalized? Does the population need to be expanding or just stable in total numbers? Usually anything that becomes naturalized to an area was once cultivated by humans or otherwise introduced by humans. It is when that species persists (for how long?) in an area without human intervention that I would consider it naturalized. 

[ruskinPalms]

Area in Ruskin where queen palms are naturalized (in my opinion at least). There are many seedlings and shorter palms in there. It is actually a fairly deep ditch or gulley that drains into the Little Manatee River

https://goo.gl/maps/Ak1H8cYF9dy

 

[Jimbean]

3 hours ago, ruskinPalms said:

I didn’t know it was a nursery at one time. And I haven’t been out there in a long time but I do recall seeing royals all the way from seedlings up to tall adults with sizes in between growing alongside the natural flora of the area. I guess maybe that’s part of my question. How long does a population have to exist and self replicate without any human intervention before it is considered naturalized? Does the population need to be expanding or just stable in total numbers? Usually anything that becomes naturalized to an area was once cultivated by humans or otherwise introduced by humans. It is when that species persists (for how long?) in an area without human intervention that I would consider it naturalized. 

Naturalized:  (of a plant or animal) having become established and living wild in a region where it is not indigenous.

I would interpret this to mean a self-sustaining population going full cycle without human intervention.  For example, these Washintonia robusta in Merritt Island:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.3641744,-80.6888744,3a,75y,109.92h,99.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szWr8IYj72XmhVrvSEaeIBQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[Ubuntwo]

6 minutes ago, Jimbean said:

Naturalized:  (of a plant or animal) having become established and living wild in a region where it is not indigenous.

I would interpret this to mean a self-sustaining population going full cycle without human intervention.  For example, these Washintonia robusta in Merritt Island:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.3641744,-80.6888744,3a,75y,109.92h,99.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szWr8IYj72XmhVrvSEaeIBQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This seems like a pretty good definition. To not only have volunteers spread to a new area, but also for those volunteers to then fruit and propagate.

[Ubuntwo]

A very good example of a large naturalized population with no human intervention. (this is of royals)

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.1291719,-80.263281,151m/data=!3m1!1e3

Edited February 28, 2019 by Ubuntwo

[Dave-Vero]

Royals take well to Florida.  The surprise is that native populations were so restricted, presumably due to occasional severe freezes.

Syagrus romanzoffiana has nutrient problems in much of Florida.  Livistona chinensis has sort of naturalized around McKee Garden in Vero Beach.  It is well adapted.  I think we'll see the Australian Livistonas naturalizing to some extent.

I just spotted a 2 foot Archontophoenix hiding in plain sight in my yard.  It gets dug up and potted soon.

 

[hbernstein]

21 hours ago, hbernstein said:

Ecologically, not at all cool.

In coastal South Florida, Ptychosperma lineare, Phoenix senegalensis, and Washintonia robusta are the most naturalized species..

Sorry, don't know what I was thinking. I meant Phoenix reclinata.