This has been a great plant for me. I got seeds about 10 years ago from a grove of spineless palms grown for palmhearts in Argentina. I n...Read Moreow have a tiny grove of about 15-20 trees. They are all spineless except 1 which has many small spines compared to normal peach palms. These few palms were selected from several hundred seedlings which were naturally culled primarily by cold hardiness. I planted the microgrove from those that thrived through several South Florida winters. The palmhearts are great and this is the first year of fruit production. Love the look of the palm, I do not see the "leaf shreading" others have refered to.
I planted this palm in the fall of 2010. It's pretty fast if it's needs are met: partial shade, lots of water, slightly acidic soil, and ...Read Moretropical temperatures. My palm almost died from two seperate cold spells--the heart is still green with all of the outer leaves burnt badly. I've read that this palm has sprouted back from the ground, in Gainesville, after a good freeze, but this is hard to believe as mine barely got frost with temperatures reading 35 degrees, for just several hours. This palm grows marginally in south florida and is often seen to be very 'untidy' due to the difficult job of maintenance. The prospect of edible fruits(for my tortoise and wild fauna)was the main reason for placing it in my backyard--back corner because or the ubiquitous spines(spineless cultivars exist).
If you have ever eaten the cooked fruit of this palm, you might have a greater understanding of why it is cultivated. In addition to it'...Read Mores fruits, this species is frequently used for "heart of palm", a tasty crispy addition to salads which is gaining in popularity here in the USA. One suggestion- if you are bothered by the wind tattered leaves of the taller stems, you can simply remove the tallest stems, leaving the others to replace it. Also, I've found it to be a good subject for including in a heavily planted, tropical rainforest type garden. All things said, it is still a very spiny palm- especially the trunk. I've noticed that as mine matured, the leaves had fewer and fewer spines- little consolation considering the overall prickly nature of the plant.
If you are considering this species in your garden, you will want to make certain it is well out of the reach of pedestrians, children, pets, and gardeners who're not prepared to become a human pincushion. Really though, if you are like me, and are interested in the spiny palms, this is a good and interesting possibility. Another nice thing, is if there is a particularly cold winter, and you lose a stem or two, it will quickly be replaced by others. Lastly, I'm not so sure I agree with the data on this plant's hardiness. I've found that it does quite well in zone 10, and recovers quickly from temperatures below 40 deg. without much effort. Maybe it just needs lots of heat and humidity during the summer months to keep it happy.
This plant grows extremely well in South Florida, but it always looked ragged. The leaves tear with the least bit of wind and one good st...Read Moreorm ruins it for a year or more.
That in combination with the spines caused me to remove mine. I had suckers of it come up for years- must not have gotten all the roots!
Though not known in the wild, this palm is grown all over central America as a source of food primarily (the fruit is tasty and for palm ...Read Moreheart). It is a clustering (sometimes solitary), tall, fast-growing very spiny palm (spineless forms exist) used for wind-breaks sometimes in agricultural areas. This is NOT a palm most can grow in the mainland US as it is quite cold sensitive. It's not the best looking palm in the world, but when grown up to about 50' can be quite impressive.
This has been a great plant for me. I got seeds about 10 years ago from a grove of spineless palms grown for palmhearts in Argentina. I n...Read More
I planted this palm in the fall of 2010. It's pretty fast if it's needs are met: partial shade, lots of water, slightly acidic soil, and ...Read More
If you have ever eaten the cooked fruit of this palm, you might have a greater understanding of why it is cultivated. In addition to it'...Read More
This plant grows extremely well in South Florida, but it always looked ragged. The leaves tear with the least bit of wind and one good st...Read More
ONe survived in Ventura CA for 15 years until teh person had it removed because they did not like it.
Though not known in the wild, this palm is grown all over central America as a source of food primarily (the fruit is tasty and for palm ...Read More