Lo + behold! I see the most wonderful sight @ The Secret Garden - three 'lollipop-looking' palm trees at the far end of the plot. By this time, I was completely frazzled by the number of species with thinly divided palmate leaves. Luckily, its ID tag was in place and that was a great help to my ever decreasing RAM!
Also known as the Brazilian Wax Palm, this species is a native of north-eastern Brazil. These palms are eye catching as the puff-like fronds look like giant globose head of dandelion seeds!
The glossy blue green palmate leaves are divided at almost half way into two fine tip leaflets. They are harvested for its yellowish-brown wax coating which is used in the production of a spectrum of commercial products such as lipsticks in cosmetics to household polish.
In fact, these palms are rather tall and my photo may not do justice as I tried to capture the whole trees . As it was not possible to get any closer to the foliage, I will make my observations from afar and some info obtained from references.
The gray trunk is slender and quite clean except for remnants of few leaf scars near the base. At 25-30ft high, it's almost impossible to see the inflorescence nor the fruits. The inflorescence will arise from the stalks of leaves bearing small brown flowers culminating in inch long brown fruits.
It is also stated that the petioles are armed with thorny spines (caution!) and that they also have an orange banding in the centre. I have yet to come across such and would definitely like to see that.
This being a tropical species, does exceptionally well here in full sun plus adequate watering. Our generous rainfall should take care of the latter :-)
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