Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Attractive but is it a Palm, 0 by johnpeten

johnpeten wrote:
.
Thrinax radiata
Thank you Tigerlily for mentioning this Genus. From the files I see photos of radiata. which is the most widespread of the species. One of these appears in part of my uncultivatd garden, photo attached. It has a tall trunk unlike the Panama Hat. However the fronds appear almost identical. Talking to my ancient Maya neighbour he tells me this palm which like my Panama hat is called huano by the Maya and used for thatching. I had several outbuildings thatched with these palms 13 years ago. Nowadays corrugated iron is used. These palms have been destroyed and to obtain traditional thatch one must travel 30 miles or so into the Jungle.
In conversation he mentioned that hats and baskets used to be made from these palms by a group of skilled Mayans living in a hamlet near a neighbouring village but he thinks they have disappeared.


This message was edited Nov 4, 2008 6:23 AM