Queen palm.

[Chavy87]

Is this normal? My oldest queen palm started looking like this at the beginning of the year. Otherwise it seems healthy, green and several new fronds throughout this last summer.

[ahosey01]

Yeah it's fine.  Older palms do this kind of thing - many species, including in the Phoenix and Washingtonia genus - eventually begin to produce roots all the way up the base of the trunk.

A palm tree is the opposite of a regular tree (i.e. an oak or something) in that the living tissue are the innermost layers, while the dead tissue is the outermost layers.  Eventually, if the root mass of the palm at the base continues to grow and expand, it cracks those dead, outer layers of "bark" that - being dead - have no capacity for further expansion.

If anything, this may be considered a good sign that your palm continues to grow and further establish its root mass.

[Harry’s Palms]

I have a couple of Queens as well as others that have done this. It doesn’t hurt them . Harry