Any guesses about the reasons for this treatment to a Royal palm?

[Phoenikakias]

The crownshaft is wrapped up and tied like a salami and all lower fronds have been removed.

[Looking Glass]

I don’t know if this is the reason, but here these are known to severely injure people and property when the fronds fall and they are high up.   It might be to keep it from falling when you don’t want it to.  Or maybe someone strung some flags or lights and just forgot to take it down. 

[Phoenikakias]

4 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

I don’t know if this is the reason, but here these are known to severely injure people and property when the fronds fall and they are high up.   It might be to keep it from falling when you don’t want it to.  Or maybe someone strung some flags or lights and just forgot to take it down. 

Could it be, that plant fell victim to some vandalism and crownshaft was also subjected to some damage? In such case could wrapping and tying serve the purpose of stabilizing the crownshaft?

[peachy]

Royal leaves are huge. When they fall they can cause damage to many things. I had a smallish one (compared to others I have seen) and when a leaf came down I had to cut into pieces as it was so heavy.  I think it has been tied to stop the leaf base falling on something. Quite a good idea actually.

Peachy

[aztropic]

As others have said,they tie up the crownshaft to keep future old fronds from denting cars or breaking their windscreens when they fall uncontrolled. This way,the city can clean up the palm once or twice a year without any insurance liabilities.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[Looking Glass]

These royals were not very big yet, but still…  Here’s a pick from the CVS parking lot, around the block from my old place…

 

Someone checked into the local hospital after getting hit in the forehead/face by the edge of a petiole from a falling royal frond.   It was like they were hit with a dull ax.   It could be repaired, but only so much.   

Edited November 21, 2023 by Looking Glass

[iko.]

If this plant is in Voula, Athens,  then it's popular enough in this forum to don't refer it as just a Roystonea but The Roystonea 😄

Maybe the owner, the person who lives in front or someone else cut the fronds that were looking bad. As the rest of the frond died, it had no sufficient weight to fall entirely and be separated from the rest of the plant. 

Looking more carefully the photos... if those thread-like around look too artificial to have happened naturally maybe is the reason other posters have mentioned or whoever did it, it was concerned the trunk was going to get damaged by the sun. I'm more inclined to think to avoid leaves falling. 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by iko.

[Merlyn]

@Looking Glass pictures like this are why I have ~315 palms in the ground and 0 Royals...

[sonoranfans]

A royal over a sidewalk is just bad placement.  Tying up the crownshaft will not stop the leaf from breaking off and falling but he leaf is less than half the weight of the crownshaft if its green.  Dried out crownshaft or leaves loses up to2/3rds of its weight.  In the last ten years I have watched my royals and they rarely drop a fully wet leaf and crownshaft, but when they do its a whump that you can hear inside the house.  Mostly the leaves die on the tree, lay down against the trunk and fall off.  These leaves are not particularly heavy.   In high winds the leaf snaps at the crownshaft in wind and the crownshaft dries out and drops later.  Three or four times in those ten years I have had a fully wet leaf and crownshaft come down and its very audible.  I have two royals and we have nothing planted directly under them for that reason, they seem to fall within -7-8 feet of the trunk and when they are wet with crownshaft they fall straight down closer, than a dry leaf.  Of course a street tree over cars or a sidewalk its a mistake to plant them.  If a wet leaf and crown had fallen on that car the hood would be dented and the windshield probably cracked.  I do not regret planting mine, they are awesome large palms that give nice height to the multi level canopy and they have fat trunks.  Here is what fell a few years back with the adirondack chair for scale.  It fell right next to the trunk and stood against it, I dragged it to the "disposal area.  This full wet leaf and crownshaft must have been 60 lbs or more, but this is a rarity that they fall wet and heavy like that.  Like a dart the leaf follows the heavy crownshaft down.  I watch these two palms for signs of a leaf dying and/or high winds, and if so, I dont spend much time underneath one of these monsters.  My royals are well watered and in humid subtropical climate, the way they fall in a dry mediterranean or desert climate may be different.

[Kim]

In Waikiki where some of the big hotels have stunning royals along the street, I've noticed heavy-duty bunge cords holding the crownshafts in place. How they manage to put them up there is a mystery, but it appears to mitigate the potential danger of falling fronds.

Fuzzy zoomed-in screen shot of the street view of royals in front of the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki. Note the black bands around the crownshaft.

 

[Palmfarmer]

Maybe a poor attempt at protecting it from cold? 

[Phoenikakias]

3 hours ago, Palmfarmer said:

Maybe a poor attempt at protecting it from cold? 

What cold? Just one week ago max temp was 28 C daily.  And the past winter was exceptionally mild. I have never observed this plant wrapped up during winter.

[Palmfarmer]

24 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

What cold? Just one week ago max temp was 28 C daily.  And the past winter was exceptionally mild. I have never observed this plant wrapped up during winter.

Some other reason then. You are in Phoenix right? 

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, Palmfarmer said:

Some other reason then. You are in Phoenix right? 

Actually a bit farther away, namely in Athens, Greece.