ENTS,  

I usually don't measure a Palm tree, but this is the largest one I've seen around here lately. I looked it up and I think it is a Canary Island Palm. CBH-6'2" H-38.8' Sp 22 x 21  This thing had a huge crown on it. The Bank its planted by was built in the 1920s I think, in Bay St Louis Ms. I also wanted to show you how deep the water was in Hurricane Katrina, I'm standing under the RR bridge at mid tide line. During the storm the water was over the bridge 8-10'! The bottom floor of the Bank was blown out.  Larry

Lawrence Tucei Jr.

Railroad Bridge

[Will Fell, March 6, 2009]

Larry;

It is a canary island date palm. They are commonly planted around the deep
south along with the edible date palm and the indian date palm. None are
native and I think all are from the general area of the mediteranean. Here
is a pic I took years ago of one of several planted in front of the Glynn
County Courthouse in Brunswick.
Cabary Island Date Palm

I have also attached a photo of the state champion Sabal Palmetto, one of
the four species of palms native to Georgia. It is in St Marys GA.

Sabal Palmetto

Will

[Will Fell, march 6, 2009]

James

That one is about 65 feet. While I haven't bothered to measure those in the
woods, I think they grow taller with Competition. Here are several photos I
took in a clearcut swamp a few years ago near Hinevilles GA. They leave the
palmettos behind because they have no value for timber or pulp.

[Will Fell, March 6, 2009]

I also might add as Will Blozan stated, that palms being monocots do not put
on any radial growth. And when they are stressed they will actually narrow
for a year or two. It is particularly noticeable in the more northerly
reaches where hard freezes defoliated them. Back in 1983 and again in 1985
we had two record hard freezes that sent temps into the low teens and single
digits that impacted the palms quite noticeably. When you see a row of
palmettos that are older they will all have a constriction fairly close in
height which was the crown of the trees during this period and all there
energy was expended recovering from the damage during that period. The same
also occurs in forest situations where they have been damaged by wildfires.
A very similar response to the narrowing of tree rings on the dicot trees.
Once in a blue moon you will find one that actually branches or twins. Here
is a photo of one on Tybee Island that I suspect mutated during one of the
early 80 freezes.