It has become popular to vandalize palms by burning the trunks. Palms will often survive the burning, though with black trunk, when new leaves emerge in spring. Control for this is beating the living snot out of the little brats you catch in the act.
There are nearly 3000 species of palms. Many are economically important as food (coconut, date), many tapped for sweet syrup (as in the chilean wine palm, Junaea chilensis), and throughout the world palm thatch is used to make houses, fences, ramadas and other structures. Some palms are used as a cheap timber. They occur almost wherever there is little or no frost.
They make great landscape plants. Some provide shade, others can be used as a protective barrier (because of spines). All have interesting growth forms, some with blueish, orange or reddish foliage. Most can grow in containers just fine and make excellent, forgiving specimen plants. Palms range in many different sizes from large ones with 60 foot wide canopies, to tiny plants that will accomidate a one-gallon size pot for its entire life.
They are not native to casinos as I found out. Take a different look at palms.
Some links to palms: PUKKA PALMS: http://www.pukka-palms.demon.co.uk/ This page is dedicated to palm trees and exotic plants which are able to survive in cold climates.
PALMS OF THE WORLD: http://www.palmsoftheworld.com/ This site was designed to expose people to the many different palms located throughout the world and provide links to other palm information on the www.
THE HARDIEST PALMS: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages... A little about some of the most hardy palms.
THE INTERNATIONAL PALM SOCIETY: http://www.palms.org/ "The Palm Society" was founded in 1956 by a small group of palm enthusiasts and has grown to have thousands of members in 81 countries. The name was changed to the International Palm society in the early 1980s to reflect the world-wide membership.
THE VIRTUAL PALM ENCYCLOPEDIA: http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/vpe_index.... Brought to you by the Palm & Cycad Societies of Florida (PACSOF)this is an amazing database of palm information, photos, etc.
There are a few mailing lists focussing on palms: THE PALMINFO LISTSERVER: http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?l... A platform to exchange information regarding the growing of palms in different climate-zones, in and out-of-doors.
PALMS LISTSERVER: http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?l... This mailing list is for the free world-wide exchange of information pertaining to the culture of palms. Postings by nurseries or individuals with palms for sale or trade are welcome.
PALMSOCIETY LISTSERVER: http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?l... The International Palm Society offers here a worldwide discussion regarding the cultivation and preservation of palm trees. Questions and answers regarding palm species, cold tolerance, diseases, germination, and more are exchanged here. In existence since 1956, the IPS supports the publication of a quarterly journal "Palms," as well as supports its website, this discussion list, and an endowment fund which aids scientific study of palms around the world. Joining the discussion list is free and available to members and non-members. This one is my personal favorite!
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