Foxtail Fever!

[Yunder Wækraus]

I wasn't a huge fan of foxtails when I lived in the US, but I've really come around to their natural beauty. Our housing estate is only about 4 years old, and most houses came with a foxtail sapling as part of the builder's planting scheme. For the first two years, ours was so small that we almost forgot we had it, and then it somehow turned into a magnificent tree almost over night. This is the view from our driveway. It's nice that a Queensland native (even if not native to within 8 hours of Cairns) is one of the most prominent and beautiful street trees here. I wish some biologist would figure out what once dispersed foxtail fruit. I suppose it's a mystery that goes back to the Pleistocene.

Please share your foxtail photos. If anyone has been fortunate enough to get permission to visit wild stands, I'd especially love to see those pictures.

[happypalms]

Google the story of the foxtail palms introduction to cultivation quite a story as to how it was introduced i have two in my garden that are from those original poached plants (no did not poach them) I purchased them from a unknown backyard grower in late 1980s they are one tough palm living in between sandstone rocks taking the heat and dry pretty soon your neighbourhood will have green waste rubbish bins full of seeds the only problem with the foxtail is the unwanted seeds hit them with the lawn mower a real shin breaker iam sure there would have been some large bird similar to the cassowary or some sort of fruit bat dispersal of seeds or some other marsupial type animal with Australia having some the most unusual marsupials in the world from Gondwana land time 

[Yunder Wækraus]

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

"Google the story of the foxtail palms introduction to cultivation quite a story as to how it was introduced i have two in my garden that are from those original poached plants (no did not poach them) I purchased them from a unknown backyard grower in late 1980s they are one tough palm living in between sandstone rocks taking the heat and dry pretty soon your neighbourhood will have green waste rubbish bins full of seeds the only problem with the foxtail is the unwanted seeds hit them with the lawn mower a real shin breaker iam sure there would have been some large bird similar to the cassowary or some sort of fruit bat dispersal of seeds or some other marsupial type animal with Australia having some the most unusual marsupials in the world from Gondwana land time"

Stunning examples. Yeah, our old house (that we rented) had several large foxtails, so I'm no stranger to their beautiful (if messy) fruit. I do wonder what, exactly, ate them in the past. Australia had giant flightless birds that were not related to emu or cassowary, but they weren't restricted to any one region, and as far as we now know, the foxtail is restricted to a very narrow part of Far North Queensland. The seeds are huge--much too big for any flying animal to spread. Perhaps one of the ancient marsupial herbivores did swallow the fruit whole. Whatever the true story is, we know they are incapable of spreading farther than their seeds fall (or roll) now. It's a sobering thought: they love the climate in Cairns, and volunteer foxtails are common within 30 yards of a mature tree, but they otherwise show zero ability to naturalize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SM458]

They are beautiful, but unfortunately for me my climate zone isn't suitable. 

[Yunder Wækraus]

Some more pics of our front 

[SM458]

Tropical garden!

[Harry’s Palms]

@happypalms I remember here in the states we had them in the early nineties but weren’t supposed to. Nobody would reveal their seed sources. Sort of sinister! I am getting ready to plant a couple of small ones. I had two nice ones give up on me after about 7-8 years of growth , still dunno what happened. A friend a few blocks away has a beauty and he planted two , same thing , one just gave up and died. It is real hit and miss here. I have learned a bit though so I’m planting them on the south side of my house in full sun and warmth and away from the palms that get a lot of water. Harry

[happypalms]

3 hours ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

Some more pics of our front 

Forget the foxtail go renda I say the one next to it 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

@happypalms I remember here in the states we had them in the early nineties but weren’t supposed to. Nobody would reveal their seed sources. Sort of sinister! I am getting ready to plant a couple of small ones. I had two nice ones give up on me after about 7-8 years of growth , still dunno what happened. A friend a few blocks away has a beauty and he planted two , same thing , one just gave up and died. It is real hit and miss here. I have learned a bit though so I’m planting them on the south side of my house in full sun and warmth and away from the palms that get a lot of water. Harry

There tough as Harry full sun dry tolerant amend your soil and away they go.

richard 

[Harry’s Palms]

Here, they can be touchy . My mentor warned me about them . We still haven’t figured out exactly why but warm , sunny locations help and well draining soil. It’s very strange , there are some that take off and others , well, die. I know of a few in our area . One person planted three beauties along a fence line . They were large specimens and all looked very healthy . There was only one left a year later. Now , seven or eight years later that one looks great. I’ve got 3 one gallon and two 5 gallon . I made sure and bought ones that weren’t from a greenhouse . The smaller ones have stalled the two larger ones are growing well after 6 months in my garden . They are in the sun now where I will plant them . I am determined! Harry

[peachy]

Foxtails are very common around here and I see specimens that are magnificent and others in need of euthanasia. They are still expensive in the regular nurseries in comparison to the other common palms they sell. I used to say they were slow to establish and slow growing until I moved house.   This time I heavily amended the soil for quite a few months before planting anything and my little foxtail shot up like a rocket. After not quite 3 years it went from a 30cm high stick to having a metre of trunk and just over a metre of crownshaft and a full head of fronds. Unfortunately I got over enthusiastic with the foliar feeding (all other species handled it) but all the lower leaves on the foxtail 'burned' a bit so he looks somewhat scruffy for the time being.

Peachy

[palmfriend]

Hi,

I had ordered a small seed package from rps years ago, I don't remember how the germination rate was, but 

I got one doing pretty well so far. The spot is a bit packed but it doesn't seem to bother at all. It just sits there and

gets slowly bigger...

...and it has already started to trunk.

Hopefully this little fella keeps going driving its enemies away...

 

Lars

 

[Yunder Wækraus]

3 hours ago, palmfriend said:

Hi,

I had ordered a small seed package from rps years ago, I don't remember how the germination rate was, but 

I got one doing pretty well so far. The spot is a bit packed but it doesn't seem to bother at all. It just sits there and

gets slowly bigger...

...and it has already started to trunk.

Hopefully this little fella keeps going driving its enemies away...

 

Lars

 

I love the lizard!

[quaman58]

In the right climate, they are magnificent. They grow here, sort of. But in places like Hawaii, geez…