Pseudophoenix sargentii | Identifying Commonly Cultivated Palms

Common name

buccaneer palm, Sargent's cherry palm

Description

Stems: Solitary, erect to 8 m tall and 30 cm in diameter, bulging slightly at variable points; young stems are gray-green, turning gray with age; ring scars are prominent, raised, and brown. Leaves: Pinnatepinnate:
like a feather; palms with pinnate leaves usually have compound leaflets attached to a rachis, although a pinnate leaf may be entire with pinnate veins (e.g., Chamaedorea metallica)
, reduplicatereduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create an upside-down V-shape, with the margins lower than the midrib (so that rain might "run off the roof"), the folding is reduplicate.
, with a twisting rachisrachis:
an extension of the petiole through the blade of a pinnate leaf to which leaflets are attached
, to 3 m long, with linearlinear:
term to describe leaves and leaflets that are narrow with nearly parallel margins; like a line
, blue-green leaflets irregularly arranged in groups of three to five, at divergent angles, held in a more or less plumoseplumose:
softly feathered
, V-shape. The somewhat open, short, stout crown shaftcrown shaft:
a cylinder of clasping leaf sheaths toward the apex of the stem, found in some pinnate-leaved palms (e.g., Wodyetia bifurcata)
is formed from waxy, gray-green or blue-green leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
sheaths. The leaflets have brown scales below, acute tips and obvious secondary veins. There are no spines. Flowers and fruit: Inflorescences maybe erect or arching, to 1 m long, and branched to five orders. Bisexual flowers are produced at the base of the inflorescenceinflorescence:
the reproductive structure of a flowering plant, including palms, consisting of flowers and associated bracts
, with staminatestaminate:
a flower bearing stamens but no pistils; a “male” flower
flowers toward the tips; both are yellow in color. Fruits are 1-2 cm, spherical to ovoid or three-lobed, and scarlet red when ripe, with remnant sepals at the base.

Diagnostic features

Field: Solitary, erect stems, bulging slightly at variable points; pinnatepinnate:
like a feather; palms with pinnate leaves usually have compound leaflets attached to a rachis, although a pinnate leaf may be entire with pinnate veins (e.g., Chamaedorea metallica)
, reduplicatereduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create an upside-down V-shape, with the margins lower than the midrib (so that rain might "run off the roof"), the folding is reduplicate.
leaves with a twisting rachisrachis:
an extension of the petiole through the blade of a pinnate leaf to which leaflets are attached
, to 3 m long, and linearlinear:
term to describe leaves and leaflets that are narrow with nearly parallel margins; like a line
, blue-green, plumoseplumose:
softly feathered
leaflets irregularly arranged in groups of three to five, inserted at divergent angles; and a somewhat open, short, stout waxy, gray-green crown shaftcrown shaft:
a cylinder of clasping leaf sheaths toward the apex of the stem, found in some pinnate-leaved palms (e.g., Wodyetia bifurcata)
.

May be confused with

Roystonea regia, but Pseudophoenix is smaller overall, has a more open, gray-green crown shaftcrown shaft:
a cylinder of clasping leaf sheaths toward the apex of the stem, found in some pinnate-leaved palms (e.g., Wodyetia bifurcata)
, and fruit with remnant sepals at the base.

Distribution

Native to Florida, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean islands

Additional comments

This strikingly beautiful palm is sometimes cultivated in seaside landscapes, but it is very slow-growing.

Scientific name

Pseudophoenix sargentii Sarg.

Family

Arecaceae/Palmae

Synonyms

Chamaephoenix sargentii (H. Wendland ex Sargent) Curtiss

Sargentia aricocca H. Wendland & Drude ex Salomon

Cyclospathe northropii O. F. Cook