Do you know that palm trees Hawaii is one of the endangered species? How many types of palm trees Hawaii are there? Are palm trees native to Hawaii? You’ll know after reading our post “Things you might not know about the Hawaii palm trees”.
How The Islands Was Before Human Discovery?
We all know that Hawaii is the largest island chain on the globe. But actually, only 7 out of its 132 islands have traces of humans.
Long before the very first appearance of humans, the islands are boundless woodlands of palm trees.
And when humans arrived, these plants became their decorations. You can see them everywhere such as in parks, gardens, and even on busy streets. There is a straight line of palm trees on the dynamic lanes of Honolulu’s hub.
How Many Types Of Palm Trees Hawaii Are There?
We have a lot to say when it comes to Hawaii palm tree types. But first, let’s talk about some general information about all of them.
Hawaiian palm trees can be as towering as 130 feet. The smallest one on the globe is the Dypsis minuta. It seldom surpasses 20 inches in size.
How fast do they grow? Some species grow extremely fast. The Areca palms, for example. This palm tree Hawaii can grow in height by around 30″ annually.
Others are slow-growing, such as the Lady palm. It grows almost no more than 12″ per year.
Now, we will show you some common Hawaii palm tree types.
Coconut Palms
When coming to Hawaii, you’ll see coconut palms sway tenderly in the wind. It truly adds a more pretty look to the shore.
Shocking facts: coconut causes more people’s death every year than sharks.
Manila Palm – Hawaii Palm Trees
The homeland of the manila palm is the Phillippines. It has a more well-known name which is Christmas palm.
Its Christmas association comes from its bright scarlet fruits. At Christmas, the fruit of this tree ripens making them look like they were specially decorated for the celebration.
Areca Palm
This kind of palm arose in Madagascar. As a result, it enjoys the tropical weather of Hawaii and flourishes in its volcanic soil. Areca palms are quite reasonable and commonly available.
Golden Cane Palm – Hawaii Palm Trees
This is another kind of areca palm. It appeared in Hawaii around the 1950s. Today, the golden cane palm is not only common in Hawaii, but also in some U.S. states such as Florida, California, etc.
Are Palm Trees Native To Hawaii?
In fact, this tropical paradise has only one palm tree species that is native. It’s the Loulu Palms. Other species such as bottle palms, traveler’s palms, coconut palms, or date palms are all foreign. They thrive in Hawaii because the climate here is extremely favorable. Most of them were brought to the island by Polynesian settlers.
Loulu Palm
As we mentioned above, the Loulu Palms are the only native palm species of Hawaii. In several U.S regions, people use this kind of palm tree for landscaping. It’s also easier to plant and manage Loulu Palms than other exotic palm trees.
Actually, this palm tree has around 29 species. 19 of them are Hawaii-native palm trees. The remains are in Fiji and Tahiti.
One genre of Loulu is aboriginal to the Oahu Island’s west side. Its name is Loulu Hiwa. Specifically, Loulu Hiwa grows near streams in the highland regions of Waianae Range forests.
The aboriginal Hawaiians used the immature Loulu palm’s fruits as their treat.
Species That Is In Danger
There were even Loulu palm forests across Hawaii Islands. However, deforestation has almost led them to extinction. Pigs and rats also put these palm trees at risk as they eat all the tree seeds.
By 1998, there were only around 100 individual trees left in wildlife. As a result, it’s tilted as one of the most threatened tree kinds in the U.S.
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