The Palm Trees
The 5118 Rawls Road house also doubles as a Palm Tree Arboretum throughout most of the year. Many very rare and unusual palm trees are scattered throughout the property. There are actually in fact over 110 different species of palm trees and cycads (Sago type palms) on the property. Here are a few of the more notable species that are visible to guests of the Christmas Light Walk Thru Trail. Almost all of the palm trees on the property were started from seed by the homeowner and the seeds imported directly from the countries of origin.
This Palm above is a Mayotte Island Bismarck. This is a very new introduction to Florida. Mayotte Island has a much wetter climate then Madagascar. Most of the Bismarckias in Florida are from Madagascar. The Mayotte Island Bismarck appears to grow faster then those from Madagascar. The seed for this palm tree was sprouted in 1999.
This is a Caryota Laosensis (gigantic black trunk fishtail). This palm is from Laos (near Vietnam and Cambodia). The palm resembles a giant tree fern. This palm was sprouted from seed in 2001 here at Rawls Road. The leaves can grow as long as 45 feet each with up to a 3 ft diameter trunk. This is one of the largest palm species on earth and this type of fishtail can cast shade similar to a large oak tree.
Easy seen in the display, this fishtail palm is known as the Himalayan Mountain Fishtail. Reports are this palm can survive temperatures of 7F/-5C degrees. Some people in London and Paris successfully grow this palm outdoors year round. The most cold hardy of all fishtail palms, this one comes from the lower mountain sides of Mount Everest and subject to annual snow fall.
To the left with the white trunk is our Teddy Bear Palm (Dypsis Latifolia). This palm has a strong resemblance to a coconut palm however unlike coconuts, this palm can tolerate endless nights of 30 and 40 degree weather without being killed.
Above is a foxtail palm. This palm was started from seed in 1999 and has grown higher then the house behind it. This palm is nearing the age where it may begin setting its own seed soon.
Along the Christmas Light Trail near the front sidewalk of the house is a dwarf date palm called Phoenix Rupicola. This date palm is best described as a minature Canary Island Date Palm. This palm is very well suited for central Florida however it is rarely ever seen.
This is a piccabean palm. A member of the King Palm family (archontophoenix), this palm is one of the more cold hardy King Palms.
Even more rare then the Piccabean palm above, this is one of 5 "purple piccabean" palms on the property. If you look carefully, the trunk/crownshaft of this palm is a bright vivid "purple".
The banana looking plant that Frosty is looking at is a Madagascarian Traveler's Palm. Just to the left is a Carpentaria Palm. The carpentaria palm is from Australia and is known as a pencil pointing palm in that part of the world because it is very narrow at its growing point. To the right of Frosty, the low growing palm is a Dypsis Cabadae palm. It is very similar to the golden crown shaft palms known as Areca Palms, however this one is red in color. This has become "extinct" in its country of origin, Madagascar. Supposedly fewer then 200 specimens of this palm exists in the world.
This plant is Coffee Cubanesus, or in other words, Cuban Coffee. The plant thrives in shaded conditions in central Florida, the coffee beans sprout easily, meaning, this form of Coffee can become a "weed" in your garden and easily survive mild freezes. Seedlings produce healthy crops of coffee beans in a single year. Warning, unlike your red bean Arabica coffee, the black bean coffee plants are more of your cappuccino type coffees and are typically 15 times more potent per bean then your standard Maxwell House type coffee. The palm leaf to the left of the coffee is a Puerto Rican Palm known as the Macaw Palm.