Silica in palm's tissues esp. fibers?

[Phoenikakias]

Reason for this question is a similar information I have been given recently by another local palm grower. Further reason for the discussion had been a personal experience during past summer, as I had cut down a dead (no apparent cause of death, prob it had been growing too close to the base of the mature conspecific specimen and new growth appeared again as side shoot at the base of the old trunk ) juvenile Livistona decora with the help of a chainsaw. During the process sparks had been thrown off from the chain, as I had been still removing higher parts of the dead trunk. Chain afterwards needed a sharpening again. The other lad told me that palm tissues (all or certain genera? Anyway he was referring in particular to coconut palms) contain silica and workers use to their removal special chains with diamond covered blades. How much truth lies in this information?

[Merlyn]

@Phoenikakias interesting, I hadn't heard of that before either.  Apparently palms do it though, see the study on Syagrus Coronata:

https://academic.oup.com/mam/article-abstract/9/S02/1522/6907263?redirectedFrom=PDF

 

[Rivera]

I have produced some small works of dried Borassus flabellifer as a woodturner, and the stuff seems to be loaded with silica. It dulls my tools very quickly. It also demands a very sharp edge to obtain a clean cut, making it a bit challenging and labor intensive to work with.