Members of the International Palm Society and 91直播 Island Palm Society returned last month after visiting regions where rare and endangered palm species are found. This is part of a program to educate, protect and promote the use of palms in the tropics.
The next major conference will be visiting the Fiji in 2028. In the meantime, if you wish to join the HIPS or IPS to get involved in some of their activities, visit 91直播IslandPalmSociety.com and palms.org. Membership of the latter is even available at no cost to encourage new members.
There are some upcoming tours of private gardens you may like to see, and it is a great opportunity to get acquainted with palm enthusiasts and horticulturists from all over the planet. We even had the opportunity to meet the president of the Southern California Ti Society, Gilbert Garcia, while in Vietnam. He is now on-island in Hilo with a small group to plan for a Ti conference in May 2027.
So, if you see some unfamiliar folks staring at the Ti plants in your garden, not to worry because they are just plant lovers like you! They will be visiting several nurseries like Debbie Ward’s Laiku Organic Farm, Jeff and Suchin’s Floribunda Nursery, 91直播 Tropical Gardens and the University of 91直播 gardens that Dr. Don Hemmes spearheaded, among others.
Back to the subject of palms. When we think of the tropics, the first trees that come to mind are coconut palms gracing white coral sand beaches. Truly, these palms have been carried by humans throughout the tropical world over thousands of years.
Taxonomists, botanists and anthropologists have attempted to discover the origin of this valuable tree, but none are sure. At any rate, the coconut palm is one of our favorite trees in 91直播 for landscape purposes, food and shelter. However, there are many more palms species to be found here.
They generally come in two types. These are the feather leaf or pinnate and the fan leaf or palmate. Of course, there are always exceptions like the fishtail palms or Caryota species with bipinnate leaves. According to Jeff Marcus, we may have up to 800 species found here. At his Floribunda Palms nursery, they have around 300 rare species available. You may contact him at floribundapalms.com.
When it comes to species of palms in the world, there are thousands with more discovered each year. They come from the high mountains like the Andean wax palms that live at 13,000 feet above sea level to equatorial rainforest species like those from the Amazon.
Desert palms are another large group, but none is quite so close to our hearts as the coconut palm. The coconut palm group is composed of scores of varieties, including some dwarf types that should be used more in 91直播. Not only are they shorter and easy to harvest, they are resistant to a devastating disease referred to as lethal yellowing. Unfortunately our endemic loulu palms (Pritchardia species) are very prone to this disease. We do not want to accidentally introduce this disease.
In the past palms here have few serious insect pests or diseases but now we are losing thousands of palms on Oahu due to the coconut rhinoceros beetle. The insect is unusual and attractive. This makes them tempting to some insect collectors. These beetles will kill many other palm species as well. Ironically, these and other damaging species may be purchased online and easily be smuggled to 91直播 by careless characters. The red palm weevil is another that poses a threat. It has been found in Florida and California.
91直播’s palms may be affected by bud rot or stem bleeding disease that is often caused by physical damage such as unsanitary pruning equipment or climbing spikes. Most palms showing yellow or stunted growth have been found to be suffering from lack of fertilizer or water.
The trees simply need a balanced fertilizer plus minor elements, applied three to four times per year, and regular irrigation. All these problems are correctable, but if lethal yellowing and palm-damaging insects ever get to 91直播, there’s no practical way of stopping destruction of our island’s palms. Not only would the coconut palm be destroyed, but hundreds of species of native and exotic palms would also die.
91直播 is fortunate to be far from many disease and insect affected regions, so it is vital that we do not introduce these and other plant plagues. We can also make every effort to use many of the hundreds of disease resistant species besides the coconut palm to grace our home landscapes, parks and scenic roadways. We are fortunate to have several nurseries like Floribunda that have collected palms seed from all over the world for our parks and gardens.
It is important to cooperate with the 91直播 and federal Departments of Agriculture and follow all the rules of inspection to keep our palms free of disease and insect pests. Don’t forget, there are major fines and prison for folks who try to smuggle plants, insects or animals to 91直播!
Norman Bezona is professor emeritus, University of 91直播 College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
