Thursday, August 6, 2009

57 ~ Our Piccabeen Palm

Piccabeen palm 1 (Click to enlarge)

Our lovely tree has been in the garden for years. A native of Australia, the Archontophoenix Cunninghamiana is most attractive when the seed pods burst open to display strings of tiny pink pearls tightly packed into their husk.

As the strings mature, the seeds grow larger and turn red, to the delight of birds which come to feed on them.

piccabeen palm 2
But I've never seen two seed pods burst at once on this tree. The pods are the trunk end of the long green palm leaves, which eventually turn brown and die, ripping off the seed pod as they fall to the ground, exposing the new seeds.

Piccabeen palm 3
This tree grew on its own from a seed fallen from a previous tree which was uprooted in a wind storm. Only after we cleared away the parent tree did we notice that a seed had rooted and was producing a new one!

The photos can best be seen when clicked to large size.

Here are some more photos taken in the garden today:

Garden view

duck pond

bromiliad

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely tree! Your photos are fantastic.

Canarybird said...

Thank you gyllendogs!

I see you have some lovely pets over on your blog. Thanks for the visit!

Marysol said...

OMG Sharon! The Piccabeen is the Liberace of the palm tree genus.

Canarybird said...

Sol it can be the showpiece of the garden when it has so many strings of coloured beads hanging down at once.

Cindy said...

Sharon, that tree is positively stunning! It's like a Mardi Gras tree, lol. Well, not exactly, but it does remind me of the plastic bead- adorned trees around here after a parade.

Canarybird said...

Hi Cindy. Nice to see you here and thank you for dropping by! Cheers.

JORDY said...

Cada día es más bonito. Enhorabuena por tú bloc. Todas las fotografías son magnificas.



Un saludo.

Jordy

Jo said...

Sharon, I think you live in the most beautiful place in the world (well, besides Sproat Lake, that is ... *heh*)

That tree is extraordinary, and I have never seen anything like it. Beautiful...!

RosieJo said...

Just found your wonderful blog. Will be visiting often from Perry, GA. See ya'll soon.
Jo

Unknown said...

I just stumbled upon your blog and would like to day that I absolutely LOVE IT!! The photos are amazing. It was a beautiful break in my day....it made me feel like I went on vacation without ever leaving my desk. Thank You :)

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