Attractive but is it a Palm

I discovered this "Palm" while clearing jungle for an extension to my garden. After 4 months of Sun it looks a lot happier.

I had a close look and noticed that the plant had been making new growth. So slowly that I had not noticed.
The youngest frond is still much lower then the others and the "Fan" has not fully opened to the full circle. It is twice the diameter of the others, better living conditions I suppose.
Also in this part of the photo you will see a new spike with a brown tip which will eventually be another frond.
The new growth comes from the center rather like a Palm but no visible trunk.

It looks like a common item but I can't find it amongst the Palms in my "Flora"
It certainly can be described as a "Fan" .

Looks like Saw Palmetto maybe?

Thank you Dutchlady. Palmetto set me searching. It is the Dwarf Palmetto, Sabal minor. Very common in your part of the World.

It is not mentioned in the Guatemala Flora but the authors of the Flora admit that their Palm research has been very poor. I look forward to some flowers and seed next year.

You may want to compare this to the Cyclanthus genus. This group looks very much like palm trees but are infact more closely related to the pandanus family. They sometimes climb like a philodendron but have palm tree like leaves. A very interesting and very over looked group of plants native to South America. They are rarely seen in the US. I believe this is due to how sensitive they are to cold and how uncommon they are to find. The most common is the panama hat plant.

The leaf doesn't resemble a Sabal minor to me, and it definitely is a palm, as well as not looking like a Panama Hat plant.
I would look at the Thrinax species, or other species of Sabal and see what you think

I have spent quite some time looking around. The Panama Hat plant Carludovica Palmata looks the most promising. It's disposition looks a little different in some photos but the leaves certainly look the same, photo attached my plant is on the right. The photos appear to show plants growing in clumps which would cause the difference.
I think the clincher is the Guatemala Flora which describes this plant and states it is found where I live in the Peten. Peten is the most northerly Department of Guatemala and has a large frontier with Mexico.
My plant appears to be a young one but having been buried in the Jungle is probably retarded. The latest new leaf is twice the size of the others.which indicates it is now a lot happier.Perhaps it will flower next year. With plenty of "Off" spray and long pants I will search my woods to see if there are anymore.
In the meantime I suppose I had better learn how to make Panama Hats...chuckle.

.
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

Sabal mauritiiformis or yapa

Sabal Morrisiana.
In forest, little above sea level, Peten (type from Uaxactun,
H. H. Bartlett 12284). British Honduras (Stann Creek Valley and
elsewhere) .
Plants very slender and tall, sometimes 27 meters high, the trunk 20-25 cm.
in diameter, smooth, light-colored, the wood hard; leaves 2 meters broad or less,
cleft almost to the base, light green above, silvery beneath, the segments 4-5 cm.
wide toward the base, long-tapering; petiole equaling the blade or slightly longer,
somewhat scurfy, the ligule 7-10 cm. long, long-acuminate; inflorescences conspicuously
exceeding the leaves, divaricately branched, the branchlets stout, terete, at
least 1 mm. thick when dry, not filiform at the ends, 5-7 cm. long; fruit black, lustrous,
globose, somewhat narrowed at the base, 9-10 mm. broad, 10-11 mm. high;
seed lustrous dark brown, 7-8 mm. in diameter, the micropyle lateral and prominent.
In Peten the leaves are highly prized as thatch, and on this account
the trees usually are left when land is cleared for cultivation

mexicana is described with the old leaves hanging down below. Also possibly in the Peten.

This message was edited Nov 4, 2008 6:12 AM

Hmmm... never heard of that species and no mention of it in any of the palm books. May be considered a synonum. The photo above of the adult palm is NOT Sabal mauritiiformis or yapa... I did not see that photo originally (was it added later?). No idea what species it is (so many look alike).

Sabal Morrisiana.in the Guatemala Flora is a synonym for Sabal mauritiiformis.

Now that the soil has been removed from the base of my young Palm it is an exact match with:-

The photo of the "seedling of Sabal mauritiiformis, in Huntington Botantical Gardens, Pasadena, California" taken by Plantbob.

The adult Palm in the other part of the garden has to be assumed to be the same species as the natives also call this "Guano" and it has the same leaves. The differences in the species in the Flora appear to be related to the fruit. The fruit has not been noticed by the locals, which is not surprising as the adult tree is so tall.