Suggestion for Thailand's national tree: Fishtail Palm

[boomerangutang]

Does Thailand have a national tree? There's a grove of those palms (latin name: caryota gigas) near my house in near Chiang Rai. They are really majestic. They're native to Thailand, and are quite possibly the biggest palm tree by bulk. Their lineage is at least 70 million years, so they were around for 15 million years while dinosaurs roamed.

Their leaves look a bit like elongated Ginko's, similar shape, color and texture. Ginko also has a very old heritage, and leaves from both trees had to withstand lots of volcanic dust. When I resided in Wash. D.C. a lot of Ginko were planted because it was thought they could withstand city smog better than other trees. Plus they're a small tree.

The Fishtail palm's trunk is chocolate brown. Some of the larger Fishtail trees near my house are about 20+ meters tall and some are near 50 cm wide at chest height. Their leaf fronds spread aggressively to the side, trying to shade out anything underneath. Their leaf spike can be 6 meters long by 5 cm wide, before opening.

If anyone reading this is a teacher with Thai high schoolers, this could be a project for the students: to petition the gov't to officially name this palm as the National Tree.

here's a write up online with a photo.

[boomerangutang]

Leaf frond from a baby Fishtail palm. Shoe in the lower right gives a sense of scale.

Edited May 15, 2016 by boomerangutang

[chickenslegs]

Apparently, Thailand has a national tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_fistula

Edited May 16, 2016 by chickenslegs

[kannot]

Much better Caryota Kiriwongensis and only comes from a very small area in Thailand, trouble with all Caryotas is after flowering they die and thats one hell of a lot of bio mass to get rid of, also be very careful of the fruit it WILL burn your skin dont touch them at all.

I have many inc Kiriwongensis, Mitis, Mitis variegated, Zebrina ,Ophiophellis, Gigas...also Elvis unclassified as yet

ps Corphyas are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY bigger

Edited May 16, 2016 by kannot

[Hedghog]

Apparently, Thailand has a national tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_fistula

Love it.

Golden shower.

[drtreelove]

Apparently, Thailand has a national tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_fistula

Love it.

Golden shower.

A Cassia fistula in bloom in Chiang Mai.

[boomerangutang]

Good to hear, if that's true Thailand has a national tree. All those sorts of things; 'national tree' 'national bird' 'national reptile' 'national insect' .,,..are good, particularly for kids. They instill an awareness and appreciation of nature. Hopefully, that will manifest to husbandry (taking care of).

Thailand has 76 provinces. It's doubtful they each have a designated tree, flower, insect, mammal, etc. For the above-mentioned reason, it would be good if they did. Another thing that happens is: the general public become more familiar with (and able to identify) trees, and other species.

I'm open to any suggestions on how to further this pursuit.

[cooked]

Good to hear, if that's true Thailand has a national tree. All those sorts of things; 'national tree' 'national bird' 'national reptile' 'national insect' .,,..are good, particularly for kids. They instill an awareness and appreciation of nature. Hopefully, that will manifest to husbandry (taking care of).

Thailand has 76 provinces. It's doubtful they each have a designated tree, flower, insect, mammal, etc. For the above-mentioned reason, it would be good if they did. Another thing that happens is: the general public become more familiar with (and able to identify) trees, and other species.

I'm open to any suggestions on how to further this pursuit.

Well I live in a rural community and I can assure you that they know the names of all the plants growing here, especially the ones that provide fruit, medicine or are otherwise useful.

The issue of each province having its own tree has been discussed here before and the consensus is that there is no way a Farang will persuade Thais to do something that they consider unnecessary. Especially so as over large areas there is little difference in vegetation so neighbouring provinces would be fighting for the nicest tree.

The national tree, as you may have noticed, is yellow which is the royal colour at the moment, so that won't be changing any time soon.

Generally I find that our Farangs have very little interest or knowledge of botany, zoology or ecology in Thailand as I realised quite early, but I have always received a response when asking for names of plants so all is not lost!

[jak2002003]

I was under the impression that the 'golden shower' tree was native to India and introduced to Thailand as an ornamental tree. I have only seen them growing along roadsides and in peoples gardens... never in the wild 'jungle'... but I could be wrong.

[kannot]

Good to hear, if that's true Thailand has a national tree. All those sorts of things; 'national tree' 'national bird' 'national reptile' 'national insect' .,,..are good, particularly for kids. They instill an awareness and appreciation of nature. Hopefully, that will manifest to husbandry (taking care of).

Thailand has 76 provinces. It's doubtful they each have a designated tree, flower, insect, mammal, etc. For the above-mentioned reason, it would be good if they did. Another thing that happens is: the general public become more familiar with (and able to identify) trees, and other species.

I'm open to any suggestions on how to further this pursuit.

Well I live in a rural community and I can assure you that they know the names of all the plants growing here, especially the ones that provide fruit, medicine or are otherwise useful.

The issue of each province having its own tree has been discussed here before and the consensus is that there is no way a Farang will persuade Thais to do something that they consider unnecessary. Especially so as over large areas there is little difference in vegetation so neighbouring provinces would be fighting for the nicest tree.

The national tree, as you may have noticed, is yellow which is the royal colour at the moment, so that won't be changing any time soon.

Generally I find that our Farangs have very little interest or knowledge of botany, zoology or ecology in Thailand as I realised quite early, but I have always received a response when asking for names of plants so all is not lost!

u want yellow try caryota mitis variegated

[boomerangutang]

update: since writing the OP, I went back to the tree grove and took out three more of the smallest. don't worry, there are still about 50 very large specimens there.

One of the three I took, had a bunch of babies with it, so I wound up getting an added several trees. They're all in the ground, and happily green, with all this rain we've had recently.

Interesting photo in the above post. I didn't know they had a yellow leaf variety.

[boomerangutang]

I looked again at the photo in post #10 of the Fishtail Palm with half its leaves yellow. It doesn't look right. I think it's a victim of over fertilization (its roots were burned), and that would explain why only half its leaves are yellow. All its leaves should be green.

Also, I just wrote a letter to the Nation newspaper about de-forestation, and in it I mentioned the Fishtail Palm. The letter may get published in a day or two.

[kannot]

On 5/23/2016 at 8:54 AM, boomerangutang said:

I looked again at the photo in post #10 of the Fishtail Palm with half its leaves yellow. It doesn't look right. I think it's a victim of over fertilization (its roots were burned), and that would explain why only half its leaves are yellow. All its leaves should be green.

Also, I just wrote a letter to the Nation newspaper about de-forestation, and in it I mentioned the Fishtail Palm. The letter may get published in a day or two.

Nope  its  nothing to do with over fertilisation its variegated green and yellow.

http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/pix/CarVar.shtml

Edited November 29, 2016 by kannot

[boomerangutang]

Wow, over 5 months of no posts on this topic, .....then one.  Thanks for the verification, Kannot.

 

update:  I've planted nearly 10 of the giant palm.  They're slow to adapt, but hopefully some will survive to grow very large.   A local told me the wood is useful, which sounded interesting. 

 

On a side note:  Once in awhile, I meet a hill triber, usually a female, who knows a lot about local plants - which are edible, which are medicinal.  If you ask me, I'd like to see such folks imparting their rare knowledge to schoolkids and anyone else who's interested.  It's a dying knowledge.   Just today, I was shown a white root of a common vine.  It tasted like a mild turnip.  Years ago, an old timer took down a banana tree, extracted the inner core.  The pure white tender core tasted like mildly sweet water, and was edible.  Another time, I walked with a hill tribe girl through a park, and she pointed out many useful plants.

 

It's a dying skill, similar to basket-making.  How many people do you know, who can go out and gather plant material, and make a beautiful & strong basket, all in one afternoon?   These are skills which should be maintained in Thailand.   Instead, tens of thousands of Thai students annually are paying big money to get degrees in economics or business, ......and how much good do those degrees do anyone?   Really.   

[worgeordie]

I have 3 Fishtail palms in my garden,they grow quickly,and develop

many trunks,they make a right mess underneath with all the seeds

they drop,which quickly sprout.at another house we had to get some

tree cutters in as it was a large tree,and they were affected by the 

small hairs that cover the stems,it's like fibre glass.so think carefully

where you plant as they grow quite big.

regards worgeordie

[kannot]

On 11/29/2016 at 7:06 PM, boomerangutang said:

Wow, over 5 months of no posts on this topic, .....then one.  Thanks for the verification, Kannot.

 

update:  I've planted nearly 10 of the giant palm.  They're slow to adapt, but hopefully some will survive to grow very large.   A local told me the wood is useful, which sounded interesting. 

 

On a side note:  Once in awhile, I meet a hill triber, usually a female, who knows a lot about local plants - which are edible, which are medicinal.  If you ask me, I'd like to see such folks imparting their rare knowledge to schoolkids and anyone else who's interested.  It's a dying knowledge.   Just today, I was shown a white root of a common vine.  It tasted like a mild turnip.  Years ago, an old timer took down a banana tree, extracted the inner core.  The pure white tender core tasted like mildly sweet water, and was edible.  Another time, I walked with a hill tribe girl through a park, and she pointed out many useful plants.

 

It's a dying skill, similar to basket-making.  How many people do you know, who can go out and gather plant material, and make a beautiful & strong basket, all in one afternoon?   These are skills which should be maintained in Thailand.   Instead, tens of thousands of Thai students annually are paying big money to get degrees in economics or business, ......and how much good do those degrees do anyone?   Really.   

Be warned if you dig  out a  caryota  from the wild ie cutting roots  it may well start to flower and seed when re  planted, this is the end of the trees  life,  cutting the roots  tells  the plant its  going to die and in many cases trigger this event.

Did yours survive or any flower? varies from caryota species to species.

heres a n update on my "variegated " one, if  anyone wants seed sometime let me know and ill see when it flowers, they produce many suckers. also in the background in the  middle  caryota Kiriwongensis which gets  huge

[boomerangutang]

                          Am not sure, but there seem to be several variations on trees/bushes using the name 'Fishtail Palm.'   Perhaps I mis-titled this topic.   The tree I'm referring to is massive, and rarely puts treelets at its trunk.  Of the 100 trees at the grove I mentioned in the OP, only one has baby sprouts (3) coming up at its trunk.   The largest specimens are 2.5 feet wide at chest height.   

 

                                     Since I started this topic, the forest areas around the grove have been taken down, and replaced with pineapple plantings.   So, it could be just a matter of weeks/months before the giant palm grove is similarly destroyed for a few hundred pineapple plants.