Ponytail Palm - Nolina recurvata

The Pony Tail Palm (Nolina recurvata) is not really a palm tree species at all. It is one of several "palm-like" plants that have been given names that include the term palm because they have an appearance that is similar to that of a palm. Other pseudo palms include the Madagascar palm, the Giant Bird of Paradise, Fern Palm and the Cycas Revoluta.

The Pony Tail palm is commonly used as a potted plant for both indoor and outdoor settings.
One of the more striking features of the Pony Tail palm is its large, round, bulb-like base that can reach a diameter of more than five feet at its widest point. Notice that even this relatively small one in the picture above has bulged so much at the base that it has broken the concrete container that it was planted in.

The leaves of the Ponytail palm grow at the terminal ends of the "branches". They are long and tapered to a point and arranged in a rosette type cluster the can resemble a head of hair or a cluster of feathers like some chickens have. If you find my descriptions confusing just go by the pictures and make your own call on what they look like.

I tried to capture a picture of the flower of this species but I think that the plant below was just past the prime floral stage. Not only that, my picture did not turn out very clear. I´ll have to keep an eye out for another one in flower.

The image below, taken in the University of Malaga botanical garden, shows what this plant looks like when it reaches full maturity with multiple branches and a more proportionate distribution between the base and the trunk.

Canary Island Date Palm - Phoenix canariensis

The Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis) is quite similar to the True Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) except that its trunk is thicker, its dates (fruit) are smaller and its top tends to be bushier (more fronds). While its dates are reputed to be edible their small size (not much there to eat) make this palm tree not commercially viable. It is however valued as an ornamental palm species for park, gardens and avenues.

Seeds can be purchased at rarepalmseeds.com

The fruits (dates) of the Canary Island Palm are about the size of olives or large grapes (just under an inch long or 2cm). The hang in clusters with individual dates lined up along multiple strings that comprise the cluster.
The leaves are long (12-20 inches) and quite pointy on the end. Towards the base of the frond the leaves are so short and spiky that they look a lot like thorns (bottom picture). Some Canary Island Palms can become very loaded with fruit as can be seen in the image below. All of these images were taken of palms in the southern Spain city of Malaga.

Chinese Fan Palm - Livistona Chinensis

The Chinese fan palm is one of many palm tree species that are common in the south of Spain where I live. It is a popular palm for gardens for it ornamental value and moderate size. A great site for more information as well as seeds for this palm tree species is rarepalmseeds.com

The fruit of this palm tree is similar in size and shape to black olives or grapes. They hang in clusters of 50-100. Sometimes you have to get up close to see the fruit under the large fan type leaves of this palm tree.
The leaves are about 3-4 feet across and have thin pointy "fingers" that droop down creating an interesting ornamental effect. The trunk of this palm is not as thick as most. The palm in this picture had a trunk that was about 6-8 inches in diameter.

Mexican blue palm - Brahea armata

The first time I saw a Mexican Blue Palm (Brahea armata) in flower (inflorescences) I was blown away by how far out and down from the head of the "tree" the flowers hung. As you can see from the image above some of them were hanging down a good 15 feet! A good site for more info on this palm is rarepalmseeds.com It is also a good source of palm seeds of many kinds.

This particular tree in the "paseo del parque" of Malaga, Spain stands about 80 feet tall. In the image above the other palms behind the Mexican Blue Palm are Canary Island Date Palms. Also nearby are some true Date Palms. In the image below you can see what the hanging fruit looks like on a smaller palm.
The leaves are fan like (with pronounced fingers) and on the palms that I have seen range from 2-4 feet wide on 2-4 foot long stems.
The inflorescences gives way to hanging clusters of "fruit" that consists of small balls about the size of walnuts or large grapes. The images below pretty well speak for themselves.

White Bird of Paradise - Strelitzia nicolai

The White Bird of Paradise tree (also called the Giant Bird of Paradise) is like a cross between a Palm tree and a Banana tree. The resemblance to the Banana tree lies in its leaves that are very similar in shape, color and size. The resemblance to the Palm lies in the stem which is someone thiner than most palms but looks quite similar. The flower of this tree is like a giant version of the Bird of Paradise plant (from the same family) although somewhat less attractive. Check out rarepalmseeds.com for info and seeds of this pseudo palm.

The large banana like leaves spread out in two directions in a symmetrical manner that creates an attractive effect for parks and gardens.
The White Bird of Paradise tends to grow in clusters with multiple stems growing out of a single base. I´ve seen some clusters with more than a dozen stems. These stems can grow to about 30-35 feet tall (this is my own estimate based on the observation of a large cluster in the Paseo del Parque, Malaga, Spain). The image below is from the Jardines de Picaso in Malaga.

Madagascar Palm - Pachypodium lamerei

I first encountered the Madagascar palm (which is not really a palm) at the Tirso de Molino botanical garden in Torremolinos, Spain. It is a very striking plant (I´m not sure you can call it a tree??) that looks like the cross between a cactus and a palm. As you can see from the image above it has some down right wicked thorns! One website that sells seeds for this pseudo palm is rarepalmseeds.com . They also have a lot of information about palm trees in general.

The images with the flowers are from a park in Benalmadena (the next town over from Torremolinos). This one was about 6 feet tall while the ones in Torremolinos were about 7-8 feet tall.
The picture below reminds me of an upside down octopus that is grasping a clump of seaweed in each tentacle.

You can kind of see why this plant got named a palm although if you look at it up close it really has very little resemblance to a palm.

Coconut Face

Have you ever noticed that a husked Coconut has a face? At least it looks like a face to me. The tree dark spots on the top of the husked Coconut are softer than the rest of the Coconut shell and can be easily opened with a small pocket knife. Normally one is easier than the other two. Once a hole has been opened you can insert a straw and drink the Coconut milk. If you don´t have a straw at hand you can drink directly from the hole. It works best if you have two holes opened for this. One to drink from and the other to let air in. Of course an easier way to drink the Coconut is to wack off the top of a green Coconut with a large knife and forget about the little holes all together.

The best drinking Coconuts are when then they are young. A this stage there is very little Coconut "meat" on the inside (2 mm) but the juice has a much nicer taste. By the time the meat has built up to its full thickness (about 1cm) the milk (juice) has started to taste a bit bitter and is not so sweet. Unfortunatelly they do not normally sell young Coconuts in grocery stores.

One little known fact about the Coconut is that when it falls of the tree and lays on the ground for a while the inside fills up with a spung like substance that you can also eat. When I was a kid this was my favorite way to eat the Coconut even though I did not find them at this stage very often (normally they were harvested and did not get to this stage) At this stage there is normally as small shoot growing out of the Coconut. This is because the Coconut is actually the seed of the Coconut palm.

Date Palm

These are images of the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) which is the source of edible Dates. In the image above the Dates are ripening. On the palm below they are almost ripe. If they are not harvested they fall to the ground and make quite a mess. You can find seeds or more information about this palm at rarepalmseeds.com

I´ve often wanted to try and climb one of these Date palms to get some of the Dates. Climbing a palm tree is no simple matter though. Even if you do manage to get to the top when you are holding on for dear life with both hands how do you pick the Dates?
The Date Palm has an elegant shape and is extensively used in Southern Spain as an ornamental tree in gardens, parks and avenues.