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Palm Trees >>Palm Tree Help >>Caryotas, Did You Know? (Fishtail Palm)

Caryotas (Fishtail Palm), Did You Know? by Phil Bergman  

Caryota palm, also known as the Fishtail Palm.

Article on Caryotas and their culture.

Over 25 years ago, Caryota (a type of fishtail palm) was one of the first palms I ever grew.  I loved the size and design of the huge Caryota urens.  I had also heard that they grew unbelievably fast.  After purchasing my first 5 gallon, I was disappointed because it just stayed the same size the first year.  I started thinking “they’re fast for everyone else except me”.

Then, in the second year, the plant exploded.  The plant is now over eighty feet tall and in the twilight years of it’s life.  Its fruiting flowers have descended the trunk and I am about to have it removed.  It was the first of about eight Caryotas that I planted in my yard.  Remember that Caryotas are monocarpic, meaning that the fruiting trunk will die after blossoming.  If it is a single trunk Caryota species, this means that the plant will die.  Other trunks of suckering Caryotas would survive.  Below, I shall not discuss much about the taxonomy of the various species of Caryotas, but rather give some anecdotal information of interest about these great fishtail palms.

Types of Caryotas

Caryotas get their "fishtail" nickname because the leaflets are jagged or "chopped" appearing at the distal end, much like the tail of a fish.  They are also a species with a bipinnate leaf.  Seedlings do not have this latter characteristic.  "Bipinnate" means that the leaf has it's usual stem like other pinnate palms.  It, however, has secondary branching pinna off of the primary stem of the leaf.  Off this secondary pinna come the leaflets. The leaflets have the "fishtail" appearance.  There are single trunk species like Caryota urens, C. gigas, C. rumphiana, and many others.  There are suckering species like Caryota urens.  If climate permits, almost every palm enthusiast grows one type or another of Caryota.   

If You Collect Seeds of Caryota
Avoid direct contact of the fruit with your skin.  It’s irritating crystals will make you crawl with discomfort.  Germination can be accomplished outdoors.  With fruiting trees, it is commonplace for fallen seeds to germinate on the garden floor.  I found a good way to notice if your tree is about to flower is to watch the color and quality of the existing leaves.  The older, lower leaves on a tree that is about to blossom will suddenly turn a brownish-green and not look right.  That phenomena may continue in an ascending fashion up the trunk for several more leaves.  Then you notice the emergence of the flower.  I suspect that the tree is stealing nutrition from the old leaves to gather energy to make the blossoms.  

If a tree flowers, this is not a guarantee that viable seeds will form.  It takes the right timing and proximity of the male and female flowers to create fertile seeds.  As the male flowers end maturity, you might find that they create a rainstorm of flower debris below the tree.  These will carpet the ground with yellow colored flower parts.  During it’s peak, it is almost musical to hear the continual drop of flowers.  Later, when the seeds start to drop, it’s like a hailstorm at times.  Once your Caryota urens begins to flower, you have about five years of flowering before the tree will look so poor that you will want to have it removed.  Be aware that the trunk of Caryotas is very hard, and tree climbers spikes may have difficulty entering the tissue of the trunk.  Also, be aware that the blossoms are extremely heavy.

Have you ever heard of a Caryota falling over?  
Well, I have and I think it is a real phenomena.  And, this may happen before the tree has blossomed.  About twenty years ago I first heard about Caryotas suddenly falling over.  Then I heard more stories here and there.  I confirmed this phenomena once while  I was talking with longtime I.P.S. member Jim Specht.  He told me that one morning after a very windy storm, he went outside to find that two of his mature Caryotas had fallen over.  One hit the neighbor to the left, one hit the neighbor to the right.  Fortunately, no one was injured and there was minor damage.  I would surmise that this is the result of an extremely tall plant with relatively superficial roots.  The important thing is to be aware that it can happen.

Concerning growing Caryotas, there are differences
Caryota urens seems to be the fastest.  You can go from one gallon to a fifteen gallon plant easily in two years in the greenhouse.  The latter plant can be way above the house in five years when planted out and properly maintained.  The popular Caryota gigas is a truly beautiful plant.  However, it takes more time to get the vertical height when compared to C. urens.  The beauty of it’s leaves and the dark, intriguing leaf bases are worth the wait.  Also, it seems to put on more girth before it maximizes it’s height.  Right now we don’t really know how tall Caryota gigas will get in California.  My prediction is that it will equal or exceed the height of C. urens.  This may be preferable because it may  prolong the garden life on this species.  As far as I know, at this time there have been no flowering Caryota gigas in California.  Some of you may have bought Caryota gigas as “Caryota Thai Mountain”, “Caryota obtusa”, or “Caryota King Kong” in years past.  From most growers, all such purchased plants are synonymous with what we now agree to call “Caryota gigas”.  However, be aware that this species may still be given a new name as the taxonomy is further studied. 

So, how tall does a Caryota get in Southern California?
My C. urens have gotten taller than eighty feet to the highest leaf.  C. gigas may exceed this.  Time will tell.  Caryota maxima (aka C. aequatorialis and obtusa variety aequatorialis) can also get taller than eighty feet.  When Caryota urens get to their maximum height, they stabilize and just seem to maintain themselves until blossoming occurs.  Caryota rumphiana, cummingii, and no are shorter than the aforementioned species.  The trunks of Caryota mitis are definitely much shorter.  Mine have typically gotten to about twenty feet.  An interesting observation is that, when Caryota urens is grown in more tropical areas, it does not attain the height we see in Southern California.  I have seen many C. urens rapidly come to blossom in Hawaii with a height of only about twenty feet.  Also, they are not nearly as beautiful as plants grown here.  This seems to suggest that this species likes somewhat cool weather.  In terms of culture, good soil and ample nutrition  help the plants reach their predicted maximum height.  Poor culture may result in a runty plant.

When blossoming starts on a single trunk Caryota
The tree does not gain height and does not put out any new leaves.  The older, lower leaves turn brown and hang downwards.  They will remain as such for years, only falling off by pruning or severe wind.  It has also been observed that large Caryotas that have been dug and moved will promptly go into premature blossom without attaining their anticipated height.  It seems that digging triggers the plant into the reproductive phase of it’s life.  Given the fact that Caryotas typically grow so rapidly, a consumer would be ill-advised to purchase a field grown single trunk Caryota.  Smaller plants from 24 inch box size or smaller will satisfy the average palm enthusiast.  Because of the stiffness and inflexibility of Caryota gigas leaves, a large boxed specimen with about eight to ten foot leaves is a very difficult plant to transport.  This is because this species firmly holds its lower leaves in a somewhat horizontal position.  One will find that the leaves cannot be tied up vertically into the crown without breaking.  Thus, the latter plant won’t fit into a pickup easily and may be too wide to go down the freeway.  Remember this before you purchase a huge C. gigas.

What about brown-tipping on the leaves of Caryotas, especially C. urens? 
It does occur and is most noticeable when this species is grown in containers in full sun.  We see this in our nursery all the time.  It is evident at the ends of the leaflets.  Containerized and sun-grown  Caryota urens have difficulty maintaining more than about two good looking leaves.  Therefore, Caryota urens is a poor choice for a sunny container grown patio plant.  Interestingly enough, this problem is not nearly as apparent with plants grown in the ground along the Coast.  Such plants hold a normal number of leaves and the leaflets show little brown-tipping.  Some feel the problem with container plants is that the hot sunlight heats up the container and roots and that this phenomena causes the leaf changes.  It disappears when the same plant is planted in the ground.  It also does not occur in the average greenhouse if the light is not excessively intense.  Thus, it might involve a combination of factors including root temperature and sun intensity.  The photos to the left shows how a beautiful C. urens leaf pierced through the shadecloth, leaving the top half with the brown-tipping and the bottom half beautiful.  This is an interesting finding, as new leaves that open into the sun don't usually burn.  A good research project would be to find the exact cause of this brown-tipping phenomena.  

Cold tolerance is different for different species
Caryotas urens, ochlandra and gigas are quite easy to grow along the Coastal strip.  They easily tolerate temperatures down to about 26 degrees, perhaps colder.  Caryota ochlandra is very similar to C. urens but shorter, and has dark colored webbing at the leaf base and on the trunk.  Caryota no, mitis, cummingii and rumphiana are more sensitive to cold.  However, I am able to grow all of these in my locality where we do not freeze.  My Caryota no is presently about thirty feet tall.  I am growing an unnamed dwarf suckering species from Southern Thailand (similar to C. monostachya or sympetala )  that seems to tolerate down to the low thirties.  Caryota ophiopellis and zebrina seem to prefer more tropical temperatures, but possibly can be grown here.  Seedlings are sensitive to damping off.  Perhaps larger plants put into the garden will do better.  They both have interesting banding on the petiole and rachis and are worth the try.

Caryotas do like ample supplies of water and fertilizer
Most species are very easy to grow.  Give them ample room away from the foundation of your house and anticipate the shade they will create.  They are the perfect palm to give your garden an overhead canopy with it’s resulting protection from cold for other under story  species.  No other palm in our locality surpasses the speed of growth of Caryota urens.  I would estimate that the anticipated life span from germination to removal of Caryota urens is from fifteen to twenty five years.  Single trunk species typically outgrow containers quickly and have to be repotted into larger pots.  Keeping a Caryota root bound for many years may result in premature flowering.  I’ve seen a C.urens flower in a one gallon pot when it was neglected and grossly overgrown.  Therefore, give it lots of room, good soil, and ample water and fertilizer.  If you live in a hotter and dryer inland climate, you may have to provide protection for Caryotas to avoid leaf sunburn.  This may be difficult because of the height attained by the maturing single trunk species.

Caryota urens trunks
Are known to get long vertical cracks or fissures in the trunks as the tree and trunk get larger.  I have never known these to be a nidus for infection or rot.  However, this is a possibility.  Also, Caryota urens have a fine, soft white furry substance on the trunk.  If you write or draw on this fur, it will last for the life of the palm.  Therefore, if you write your girlfriend’s name on the trunk, make sure you’re going to marry her.  Caryota urens is the most common single trunk Caryota that the palm enthusiast will grow.  It has proven very hardy in Southern California and is an unbelievably fast grower.  You must like big trees, because this giant will tower over most of your other palms.

A special comment has to be made about Caryota no.   It looks like a huge fern in the sky.  I will never forget some mature specimens I saw in Bogor Botanical Gardens in Java.  I thought I had gone to "palm heaven".  Their huge lacy leaves made the most beautiful silhouette in the sky.  If you live in a good area, please give Caryota no a try.  And, have fun with all the Caryotas.              

(End) 

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