The Palms of the
Hawaiian Islands that I'm growing.
Updated November 1999
The mountains of Hawai`i rise and
fall to various hights, creating valleys and ridges with what are
known as Micro Climates. Over the millions of years that the
vegetation of Hawai`i developed, single species mutated into many.
The Pritchardia palms are a good example of this process . None of
the Pritchardia palms listed below are found naturally on more than
one island, and in many cases they are found in small localities on
their island.
The Niu, Cocos nucifera, or
Coconut Palm is found all over the tropical world and most probably
first came to Hawai`i floating on ocean currents. It is "Indigenous"
which means it came to Hawai`i without the help of humans, but is
also found in other parts of the world. It is also very likely that
the first Polynesians that arrived in Hawai`i also brought the
Coconut with them.
The Pritchardias also came to
Hawai`i with out human help. But they mutated, and adapted to the
different Micro Climates the islands provided, and these species are
found NO place else in the world unless brought there by modern man.
There are 37 species of Pritchardias, 33 are endemic to the Hawaiian
Islands. Many are "Endangered Species". A few are extinct in the wild
such as P. montis-kea and P. macrocarpa.
Pritchardias are solitary, unarmed
fan palms, they have clean ringed trunks and no crownshaft. The
leaves are costapalmate and in many cases are almost round. The
leaves were used by the ancient Hawaiians for thatch on their houses,
baskets and fans. The immature fruit was considered a
delicacy.
Most Hawaiian Pritchardias are
native to mountainous areas with lots of rain. Elevation varies from
around 600 feet to 4600 feet. The upper rain forest areas are
generally much cooler than low land areas and some Hawaiian
Pritchardias have been found to be fairly cold tolerant in "frost
free" areas of the U. S. mainland.
At this point in time most of my
Pritchardias in the ground have only been there for about 16 months.
The have not begun to develop their own characteristics, but they
have taken hold and are growing nicely.
Enjoy looking at the pictures as
much as I enjoy the real palms.