So named because their berries turn red around the holidays? Why not! It’s true and it makes as much sense as any other explanation.
We have seven of these in our backyard, growing in clusters of two and three. They are a very pretty tree with an elegant, straight trunk and dark green, handsome fronds. However they do get a bit messy once they “flower.” The flowers emerge at the base of a frond that has died. They are dressed in a light green sheath from which they quickly burst forth, shedding it like a the dried husk as it turns brown.
The result: a stalk with lots of arms sporting small, hard, green berries, which eventually turn into delicate creamy white blossoms over time. In this blossoming phase, they attract A LOT of bees, which is good because I hear the U.S. has a shortage of bees! I had hoped you could see from the photo below, one of these sprouts that has both berries/seeds and blossoms, but you can’t. Anyhow, all this evenutally falls to the ground or on the deck.
Here’s a close-up of the blossom once it has fallen. (Jewelry designers feel free to interpret this into an earring or brooch. I would if I could! They’e so perfect!)
The berries DO turn red and I think it’s really around Christmas time. But I’ll watch more closely this year and document the changes.
Oh! And the berries also germinate. Here are some babies cropping up through my ground cover.
I have shared these with neighbors and they’ve successfully grown real trees from them. Imagine!
I started out with eight Christmas Palms planted years ago. Two clusters of three and one of two. Sadly, one tree in a cluster of three lost it’s top and so is now just a trunk. I had tried attaching a pot with a sago palm in it, hoping to simulate the top of a palm tree. At least from a distance?
Unfortunately the trunk continued to rot and the nails no longer held the pot and it fell. My acrophobic sago is now situated elsewhere with its base firmly on the ground and doing just fine!
sofloflora 