Palm tress are very tall, and impressive plants often found in -really- hot places.
Let’s find out more about it!
- The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales.
- Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms.
- Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees.
- Currently 181 genera with around 2,600 species are known.
- Most of them restricted to tropical and subtropical climates.
- Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, arranged at the top of an unbranched stem.
- However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.
- Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families.
- They have been important to humans throughout much of history.
- Many common products and foods are derived from palms.
- In contemporary times, palms are also widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants
- . In many historical cultures, because of their importance as food, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, and fertility.
- For inhabitants of cooler climates today, palms symbolize the tropics and vacations
- Some palms can reach heights of 70 feet or much more.
- The Quindio wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense) is the tallest species and can grow 160 to 200 feet high.
- It is the national tree and emblem of Colombia and is now a protected species, which means it can’t be used for logging.
- Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), seen in the Los Angeles and Southern California area, can grow up to 98 feet tall.
- The Assyrians believed that the ultimate symbol of eternal life was a tree growing beside a stream. The tree they valued most was the palm.
- On Palm Sunday, a week before Easter, Christians often carry palm fronds as part of a symbolic ritual that commemorates Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as foretold by the prophet Zechariah.
- According to the Bible, people cut branches from palm trees, laid them across Jesus’ path, and waved them in the air.
- Franciscan missionaries are credited with being the first to plant palm trees in California for ornamental purposes.
- By the turn of the 20th century, Southern California gardeners were hot for exotic palm trees and introduced them to the area.
- The 1932 World Olympics in Los Angeles is believed by some historians to be the reason for palms being planted along streets and pretty much every public park and gathering place in the city.
- This beautification project gave jobs to some 400 unemployed men during the Great Depression.
- Approximately 40,000 Mexican fan palm trees were planted along 150 miles of city streets.
- Since then, they’ve become an icon of the region, along with the Hollywood sign, beaches, etc.
- Depending on the species, some palms can live for more than a century.
- Younger palm trees prefer shade and most varieties will tolerate it when mature.
- The fruits of many palms, such as coconuts and dates, are delicious. Others, such as sago, are poisonous to humans and animals
- Palmate leaves, like hands, grow in a bunch at the end of a stem. Pinnate leaves are like feathers, growing all along either side of a stem.
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