Saturday, February 22, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Introduction to New Zealand Palm Trees
New Zealand Palm Trees are commonly known as Nikau Palms and Shaving Brush Palms.
They have a "Shaving Brush," "Feather-Duster," or (Badminton) "Shuttlecock" shape due to the upwards tilt of their palm fronds, one of the key differences between this palm and other palm trees. Since they do not have palm fronds that arch downward, they have a slimmer profile and more vertical shape. In other words, they are taller than they are wide.
The New Zealand Palm Trees area also distinctive because they have a rounded or 'bulbous' crownshaft at the base of their fronds. This rounded crownshaft resembles the swelling rounded portion of the badminton shuttlecock. As a result, a mature New Zealand Palm Tree bears some similarity to a giant shuttlecock perched on a pedestal. The pedestal has 'rings' which are analogous to the growth rings of other trees, and so the number of growing seasons may be counted on a mature tree, with the width between rings giving some indication as to how much the tree grew in height during that season.
The New Zealand Palm Tree is also known as the "Southern-most Palm Tree," since their origin is on the New Zealand islands in the southern part of the hemisphere. As a result, they have one of the greatest degrees of cold-tolerance of palm trees, in a manner that the Mediterranean Fan Palm (European Fan Palm) has a higher cold tolerance due to it being the 'Northern-most Palm Tree".
The result is that the adaptable range of the New Zealand Palm Tree is highly suited to coastal temperate climates in latitudes of the United States as far north as southern Oregon. The San Francisco Bay Area, due to its climactic similarities to New Zealand, presents an ideal location for New Zealand Palm Trees to grow and thrive.
They have a "Shaving Brush," "Feather-Duster," or (Badminton) "Shuttlecock" shape due to the upwards tilt of their palm fronds, one of the key differences between this palm and other palm trees. Since they do not have palm fronds that arch downward, they have a slimmer profile and more vertical shape. In other words, they are taller than they are wide.
The New Zealand Palm Trees area also distinctive because they have a rounded or 'bulbous' crownshaft at the base of their fronds. This rounded crownshaft resembles the swelling rounded portion of the badminton shuttlecock. As a result, a mature New Zealand Palm Tree bears some similarity to a giant shuttlecock perched on a pedestal. The pedestal has 'rings' which are analogous to the growth rings of other trees, and so the number of growing seasons may be counted on a mature tree, with the width between rings giving some indication as to how much the tree grew in height during that season.
The New Zealand Palm Tree is also known as the "Southern-most Palm Tree," since their origin is on the New Zealand islands in the southern part of the hemisphere. As a result, they have one of the greatest degrees of cold-tolerance of palm trees, in a manner that the Mediterranean Fan Palm (European Fan Palm) has a higher cold tolerance due to it being the 'Northern-most Palm Tree".
The result is that the adaptable range of the New Zealand Palm Tree is highly suited to coastal temperate climates in latitudes of the United States as far north as southern Oregon. The San Francisco Bay Area, due to its climactic similarities to New Zealand, presents an ideal location for New Zealand Palm Trees to grow and thrive.
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