The common name, mule, comes from the fact that the palm is sterile, meaning you won’t need to worry about palm seedlings sprouting up everywhere. There is also the Mule palm, X Butyargrus nabonnandii, which is a cross between the Queen and Pindo palms. Unlike Washingtonia palms, which get so tall that they just become trunks in the landscape, the Pindo palm remains small. This palm is slow growing, can reach a height of 25 feet and is an attractive specimen. It is very cold hardy and can even produce edible fruit that you can make into jam or jelly. The Pindo palm, Butia capitata, is a cold hardy palm that has blue-gray feather-shaped fronds. If you lose a Queen palm, Mexican fan palm, Canary Island date palm or any other species of date palms ( Phoenix spp.), consider one of these as a possible replacement. Although, if you already have a large number of palms in your landscape, you may be better off to replace it with a tree instead, because you want to aim for no more than 15 percent of plants from the same plant family and all palms are members of the Arecaceae plant family. There are actually a few palms that are underutilized, so keep these palms in mind if you lose a palm in your landscape. So, following the 5-10-15 percent rule can save a landscape from losing a high percentage of plant material from an outbreak of a new pest.īefore planting a new Queen palm, keep in mind that we have Fusarium in the county that can kill a Queen palm quickly, once it becomes infected. The sad news is, not only does this ambrosia beetle love Redbay, it also attacks other trees in the same family like avocado trees. This disease is carried by an ambrosia beetle that loves our native Redbay. Currently, it is estimated that a new pest becomes established in Florida every month! Many residents have already experienced the devastation of these pests and, due to the high number of susceptible host plants growing throughout the county, more plants could be effected in the future.Īn example that highlights the importance of the plant family rule is Laurel Wilt. Some of the insects and diseases that have become established in Florida within the past 10 years are Citrus canker, Citrus greening, Laurel wilt, Chilli thrips, Rugose spiraling whitefly, Fusarium wilt of queen palm and Mexican fan palm, Texas Phoenix Palm Decline (TPPD), and Fusarium wilt of Canary Island date palm. With a little careful planning, biodiversity can be increased if the right plants are chosen to replace a plant when it dies. Just look at all of the subdivisions where Queen palms are planted in the yards. Plus, biodiversity is very beneficial, especially when compared to a monoculture. Yet, biodiversity is nature’s way of growing plants. Many new subdivisions tend to have a limited selection of plants in the yards of the all of the homes. Have you noticed that there a large number of the same plants planted throughout the county?
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