Description
Acoelorrhaple – Paurotis – Saw Palm
Theirs only one elegant palm in this genus. Native to moist forest or swampland like areas of Southern Florida and nearby shores of the Caribbean and Central America. It’s a multi-stemmed palm that spreads and can be divided. It’s noticeable feature is its fiber-covered or it shedding skins found at the bases of it trunk. This palm sends out slender irregularly of hermaphrodite flowers out past the leaves followed by small orange tan fruit ripening to black, making a fine display.
Out door, grow this plant in the tropics or subtropics it is easy, it just needs an open site in a sunny position with a plentiful supply of moisture. Feeding with high nitrogen fertilizer can accelerate growth. Thrives in low lying swampy settings well even tolerate brackish groundwater.
Indoors grow in soiless or soil based potting mix in full sun. During growing season water freely and apply balance liquid fertilizer monthly. During winter water sparingly.
Prone to spider mites, Ganoderma butt rot, tar spot, false smut, and stigmina leaf spot all can occur.
Acoelorraphe wrightii – Paurotis wrightii – Everglades Palm – Saw cabbage Palm – Silver saw Palm – Popular landscape choice for parks, larger gardens, and plazas. It grows 15-30’ feet tall and spread 8-20’ feet wide in a dense clump. The trunks are covered with brown fibers and old leaf stems. The 3-foot fan shape fronds are only 2’ feet long and vary from glossy to dull green or bluish with duller undersides. Tiny cream flowers borne in an irregularly branched flower cluster 3’ foot long, much longer then the fronds followed by pea sized fruit ripen from orange-tan to black.
Zones 11-12
