Palms of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

[Ben G.]

I normally spend my time posting on the cold hardy forum here, but this time I have some pics and info that might be of more interest here.

I did a search through the archives here and found that there no pictures on the forum from Guantanamo Bay. It isn't the easiest place for people to visit, but I still thought someone would have beat me to this topic.

I had the chance to spend some time a while back US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. While I was there I did take pictures of palms, plants, and wildlife when I could. I will post my palm pics here, and I might post on the off topic forum about other plants sometime soon as well.

The quick evaluation of palms at GTMO is that the three most common palms are (in order) Coccothrinax, coconuts, and pseudophoenix. There were also some royals, Phoenix dactylifera, and a few odd and end other species.

Here you are:

 

[Ben G.]

And more:

[Ben G.]

Cocos:

[Ben G.]

More:

[happypalms]

 Nice one thanks for posting. A place steeped in history for various reasons! One doesn’t think of palms when the word Guantanamo bay is mentioned! 

[Robbertico18]

beautiful palms, but I find it odd that all the grass is brown...I wouldn't think that Cuba would be dried out like that

[Ben G.]

1 hour ago, Robbertico18 said:

beautiful palms, but I find it odd that all the grass is brown...I wouldn't think that Cuba would be dried out like that

I wasn't really familiar with the climate either, until I went there. That part of southeast Cuba is pretty arid. I saw it rain a few times while I was there, but most of those times were over within a few minutes.

We got one really nice thunderstorm though, that lasted about half an hour. It still looked dry and crispy the next day though.

It was dry enough that a fair number of the cocos and the royals looked drought stressed. I also noticed that the coconuts usually fell of the trees while they were still small. I also never saw a coconut sprouted on or near any of the beaches to lead me to believe they are naturalized there.

If I had to guess, I would say the coccothrinax are the only palms truly native to that part of Cuba. They were naturalized all over.  I don't know for sure though.

[Looking Glass]

2 hours ago, Robbertico18 said:

beautiful palms, but I find it odd that all the grass is brown...I wouldn't think that Cuba would be dried out like that

It’s what makes most native Cuban palms great for hot, dry and harsh areas.  They work out great in South Florida with our similar climate.   Poor soils and long periods of extreme dryness, with interspersed heavy deluge rains over short periods.  
 

16 hours ago, Ben G. said:

 

 

Kind of a let down to see the plantings of Coconuts, all the Christmas Palms, and Lutescens.  They looked sickly compared to the Cuban palms. This pics shows a great contrast in what was a great idea to plant here, and what was a terrible idea.   This is also a very “south Florida” thing to do, for a residential complex.  I didn’t see any, but Pseudophoenix would look much better than all of those Christmas palms in many of the pics.  
 

Great pics overall though…. Thanks!  

[GMann]

Wow look at that! That is pretty spectacular!

[Ben G.]

6 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

It’s what makes most native Cuban palms great for hot, dry and harsh areas.  They work out great in South Florida with our similar climate.   Poor soils and long periods of extreme dryness, with interspersed heavy deluge rains over short periods.  
 

Kind of a let down to see the plantings of Coconuts, all the Christmas Palms, and Lutescens.  They looked sickly compared to the Cuban palms. This pics shows a great contrast in what was a great idea to plant here, and what was a terrible idea.   This is also a very “south Florida” thing to do, for a residential complex.  I didn’t see any, but Pseudophoenix would look much better than all of those Christmas palms in many of the pics.  
 

Great pics overall though…. Thanks!  

Interesting. I lived for a couple of years in the Philippines where Christmas/Manila palms were some of my favorites. Those Christmas palms at GTMO looked so much less attractive to me that I actually thought those were some species of pseudophoenix.

I am embarrassed I didn't realize what they were, but I am kind of surprised I thought they were something different. Maybe it is that I am used to seeing them palnted as doubles and triples? Maybe because I remembered them having smoother more attractive trunks? Either way, I am disappointed that they aren't using pseudophoenix which, as you pointed out, would likely be better suited to the conditions.

[Looking Glass]

39 minutes ago, Ben G. said:

Interesting. I lived for a couple of years in the Philippines where Christmas/Manila palms were some of my favorites. Those Christmas palms at GTMO looked so much less attractive to me that I actually thought those were some species of pseudophoenix.

I am embarrassed I didn't realize what they were, but I am kind of surprised I thought they were something different. Maybe it is that I am used to seeing them palnted as doubles and triples? Maybe because I remembered them having smoother more attractive trunks? Either way, I am disappointed that they aren't using pseudophoenix which, as you pointed out, would likely be better suited to the conditions.

I have a respect/hate for Christmas palms.  Down here, they are fairly tough, tolerating our dry spells much better than other tropical looking pinnate palms.  They grow fast, not too big, are messy with their endless seeding, hurricane tolerant, and planted literally everywhere to the point of nausea.  Still, they do very well, neglected in literally everyone’s yard and parking lot.   I spend hours every month, cleaning up after the 12+ that overhang my yard from my neighbors.  

I’m sure they look happy and lush in The Philippines.  

I love Sargentii, maybe to a certain degree because they are less common here.   They can be homely, variable, and weird looking, even when healthy.   Tough as nails, but many show a lot of battle scars from oscillating rough conditions, and “Pseudophoenix decline” injury.  

 

 

 

 

[MC Silver]

Man those hills and cliffs filled with coccothrinax are stunning! Coccothrinax are my favorite! Thanks for the pics!

[MC Silver]

Cool Buc palm pics! I appreciate them being native to S. FL. I was trying to force myself to like them to plant in my garden but they are to weird looking for me and couldn't do it! LOL. I ended up going for a pygmy date. Idc what anybody says that look really nice no matter how uninspiring and common they may be XD

[aztropic]

1 hour ago, Ben G. said:

 I am disappointed that they aren't using pseudophoenix which, as you pointed out, would likely be better suited to the conditions.

A hotel I stayed at in Cayo Coco,Cuba actually did make use of the wild local palms for their landscaping. There were easily over a hundred rescued Pseudophoenix sargentii planted all around the property and roadways of the area. Lots of wild ones too as soon as you started hiking in the natural areas.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[MC Silver]

58 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

I have a respect/hate for Christmas palms.  Down here, they are fairly tough, tolerating our dry spells much better than other tropical looking pinnate palms.  They grow fast, not too big, are messy with their endless seeding, hurricane tolerant, and planted literally everywhere to the point of nausea.  Still, they do very well, neglected in literally everyone’s yard and parking lot.   I spend hours every month, cleaning up after the 12+ that overhang my yard from my neighbors.  

I’m sure they look happy and lush in The Philippines.  

I love Sargentii, maybe to a certain degree because they are less common here.   They can be homely, variable, and weird looking, even when healthy.   Tough as nails, but many show a lot of battle scars from oscillating rough conditions, and “Pseudophoenix decline” injury.  

 

 

 

 

Cool Buc palm pics! I appreciate them being native to S. FL. I was trying to force myself to like them to plant in my garden but they are to weird looking for me and couldn't do it! LOL. I ended up going for a pygmy date. I don't care what anybody says they're one of my favorite no matter how uninspiring and common they may be XD

[D Palm]

Cuba does receive good rainfall, but depending on what side of the island, can have dry air removing the moisture quickly. I have spoken with Cubans in Miami, they complain about Miami’s blanket humidity and flat swamp. When I travel to Puerto Rico, it is definitely NOT as humid in San Juan as South Florid thanks to the Caribbean breeze plus elevated terrain to assist with water drainage. 
 

I don’t remember seeing St Augustine grass in PR either…which to most is the holy grail of grass in Florida.

Edit: After reviewing photos closer, I believe the green grass is some type of Bahia (drought tolerant) and unknown about the brown grass. Could be dormant Zoysia or fried Bermuda. No St Augustine present.

[Ben G.]

14 hours ago, D Palm said:

Cuba does receive good rainfall, but depending on what side of the island, can have dry air removing the moisture quickly. I have spoken with Cubans in Miami, they complain about Miami’s blanket humidity and flat swamp. When I travel to Puerto Rico, it is definitely NOT as humid in San Juan as South Florid thanks to the Caribbean breeze plus elevated terrain to assist with water drainage. 
 

I don’t remember seeing St Augustine grass in PR either…which to most is the holy grail of grass in Florida.

Edit: After reviewing photos closer, I believe the green grass is some type of Bahia (drought tolerant) and unknown about the brown grass. Could be dormant Zoysia or fried Bermuda. No St Augustine present.

Here is the only real precipitation map of Cuba I could find:

If you zoom in enough you can see that the Guantanamo Bay is listed as a dry steppe climate. In reality there are mountains there in southeast Cuba that are significantly dryer than other parts of the island. That dry area certainly extends further away from the bay than this map shows. The air there was humid, but not as humid as the Philippines, or somewhere like Galveston in the summer. (These are just places I am familiar with that have very high dew point and humidity) Certainly more humid than I am here in inland Texas though.

From what I could tell on Google maps though, it was much greener to the north of those mountains and to the west.

As for the grass, you may be correct about it being some type of Bahia. I am not really familiar with Bahia grass, but it was most definitely not Bermuda, St. Augustine, or zoysia. I am familiar with those, and the grass was different than any of them.

[Silas_Sancona]

14 hours ago, D Palm said:

Edit: After reviewing photos closer, I believe the green grass is some type of Bahia (drought tolerant) and unknown about the brown grass. Could be dormant Zoysia or fried Bermuda. No St Augustine present.

 

15 minutes ago, Ben G. said:

 

 

As for the grass, you may be correct about it being some type of Bahia. I am not really familiar with Bahia grass, but it was most definitely not Bermuda, St. Augustine, or zoysia. I am familiar with those, and the grass was different than any of them.

If we're talking about the Grass seen in the 1st 3 shots of post #2, ..That is likely older, un- grazed clumps of Cenchrus ciliaris, Buffelgrass,  Not Bahia ( Paspalum notatum )  which does not produce tufts of new growth / branching from nodes high up on the stems..

[Looking Glass]

3 hours ago, Ben G. said:

Here is the only real precipitation map of Cuba I could find:

If you zoom in enough you can see that the Guantanamo Bay is listed as a dry steppe climate. In reality there are mountains there in southeast Cuba that are significantly dryer than other parts of the island. That dry area certainly extends further away from the bay than this map shows. The air there was humid, but not as humid as the Philippines, or somewhere like Galveston in the summer. (These are just places I am familiar with that have very high dew point and humidity) Certainly more humid than I am here in inland Texas though.

From what I could tell on Google maps though, it was much greener to the north of those mountains and to the west.

As for the grass, you may be correct about it being some type of Bahia. I am not really familiar with Bahia grass, but it was most definitely not Bermuda, St. Augustine, or zoysia. I am familiar with those, and the grass was different than any of them.

 

Here’s a triple comparison of this particular classification system, which has its limitations.  It’s a way of lumping together climates into big themes.  Guantanamo certainly looks like the driest spot in Cuba.  Much of that blue is going to be very, very dry outside of the wet season.  

 

 

[D Palm]

On 8/10/2025 at 3:17 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

 

If we're talking about the Grass seen in the 1st 3 shots of post #2, ..That is likely older, un- grazed clumps of Cenchrus ciliaris, Buffelgrass,  Not Bahia ( Paspalum notatum )  which does not produce tufts of new growth / branching from nodes high up on the stems..

Not talking about 1&3, clearly the Green grass, near the bottom of photo chain. It looks like Bahia seed heads that split. Hard to be exact due to resolution of photo.

[Mazat]

On 8/9/2025 at 4:37 AM, Ben G. said:

And more:

Thanks for sharing. Great pictures, Ben.

[Mazat]

On 8/9/2025 at 12:50 PM, happypalms said:

 Nice one thanks for posting. A place steeped in history for various reasons! One doesn’t think of palms when the word Guantanamo bay is mentioned! 

One doesn’t think of palms when the word Guantanamo bay is mentioned! - How true, Richard 

[Mazat]

On 8/10/2025 at 4:34 AM, aztropic said:

A hotel I stayed at in Cayo Coco,Cuba actually did make use of the wild local palms for their landscaping. There were easily over a hundred rescued Pseudophoenix sargentii planted all around the property and roadways of the area. Lots of wild ones too as soon as you started hiking in the natural areas.

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

What a sight. Yes, for me at least, there could be hundreds of palm trees and more, it never gets boring. It's always a pleasure...

[Hu Palmeras]

Very happy. Germinating my first Pseudophoenix Sargentii Var. Navassana from 20 seeds from my supplier friend in the Dominican Republic.

[gyuseppe]

But what area of Chile do you live in? A light frost is enough and these die.

[Hu Palmeras]

Of course, my friend Gyuseppe. My area is in southern Chile. Imagine. I've germinated batches of tropical palm trees. They can live, but indoors or protected, and they'll spend their entire lives in pots. The interesting thing is that I have something tropical inside. Even if it's crazy.

[gyuseppe]

2 hours ago, Hugopalmeras said:

Of course, my friend Gyuseppe. My area is in southern Chile. Imagine. I've germinated batches of tropical palm trees. They can live, but indoors or protected, and they'll spend their entire lives in pots. The interesting thing is that I have something tropical inside. Even if it's crazy.

I live in a fairly good climate, but I can't grow tropical species.

[gyuseppe]

my list  palms of my garden

Acoelorrhaphe wrightii
Arenga micrantha
Arenga engleri
Brahea brandegeei
Brahea decumbens
Brahea dulcis
Brahea moorei
Brahea nitida
Butia odorata
Butyagrus
Chamaerops
2 unidentified Guihaia
Howea forsteriana
Jubaea
Linospadix 1 in pot
nannorrhops richiana
sabal bermudana
Sabal causiarum
Sabal minor
Sabal palmetto
Syagrus romanzzoffiana
Rhapis excelsa
Rhapis humilis
Rhapidophyllum hystrix
Phoenix dactylifera
Phoenix reclinata
Phoenix roebelenii
Phoenix rupicola
Phoenix loureiroi humilis
Livistona australis
Livistona chinensis
Livistona decorates
2 Livistona mariae-small in pot
Trithrinax brasiliensis
Trithrinax campestris
Trachycarpus fortunei
Trachycarpus?
chamaedorea microspadix
chamaedorea radicalis low form
chamaedorea radicalis arborescent form
chamaedorea hybrid radicalis x microspadix
phoenix hybrid roebelenni x reclinata
phoenix roebelenii x dactylifera
and about ten species of chamaedorea in pots
 

[Hu Palmeras]

Congratulations, my friend. You have a fine private collection of palm trees. I also have a good collection. A little less than you, but I have quite a few. I also want to donate them to a botanical garden. I hope to do a project to benefit a botanical garden in the future.

[gyuseppe]

2 minutes ago, Hugopalmeras said:

Congratulations, my friend. You have a fine private collection of palm trees. I also have a good collection. A little less than you, but I have quite a few. I also want to donate them to a botanical garden. I hope to do a project to benefit a botanical garden in the future.

I had many more! More than double, the list doesn't include the cycad species I have.

But please read here:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/87620-my-name-is-gyuseppe-and-many-know-me-why-have-i-disappeared-in-recent-years/#comment-1225294

[Hu Palmeras]

I didn't know you were sick, my friend. But you're recovered. God has healed you. You must now believe in God more and be at peace. And take heart.

[gyuseppe]

5 minutes ago, Hugopalmeras said:

I didn't know you were sick, my friend. But you're recovered. God has healed you. You must now believe in God more and be at peace. And take heart.

yes and that's what I do now every day, I risked dying now I take courage every day to move forward and may God help us all

THANKS MY NEW FRIEND!

[Hu Palmeras]

No thanks to you, my friend. You should take good care of yourself. Nice to meet you, and you do like beautiful palm trees.