Best Wallpapers Flowers: Rare Fruit & Vegetable Council of Broward County (part 3)

Here are the last in a series of photos from last weekends visit to the RFVC's garden. See my earlier posts here! My knowledge on these rare palms is limited so I'm sharing what I found researching these rare palms. I still learn something new everyday!

Sugar Palm

Family: Arecaceae •
Genus: Arenga •
Species: pinnata •
Country of Origin: Asia •
Common Names: Sugar Palm, Arenga Palm, Black-fiber Palm, Gomuti Palm •

It is a medium-sized palm, growing to 65 feet tall, with the trunk remaining covered by the rough old leaf bases. The sap is harvested for commercial use in southeast Asia, yielding a sugar known in India as gur, and is also fermented into vinegar and wine. The fruit is also used, though it must be prepared prior to consumption, as the juice and pulp are caustic. This crop may develop into a major resource of biofuel (ethanol) [1]

Snake Fruit

Family: Arecaceae •
Genus: Salacca •
Species: edulis •
Country of Origin: Indonesia and Malaysia •
Common Names: Snake Fruit •

Salak is a species of palm tree native to Indonesia and Malaysia. It is a very short-stemmed palm, with leaves up to 19 feet long; each leaf has a 6.5 foot long petiole with spines up to 6 inches long, and numerous leaflets. The fruit grow in clusters at the base of the palm, and are also known as snake fruit due to the reddish-brown scaly skin. They are about the size and shape of a ripe fig, with a distinct tip. The pulp is edible. The fruit can be peeled by pinching the tip which should cause the skin to slough off so it can be pulled away. The fruit inside consists of three lobes, each containing a large inedible seed. The lobes look like, and have the consistency of, peeled garlic cloves. The taste is usually sweet and acidic, but its apple-like texture can vary from very dry and crumbly (salak pondoh) to moist and crunchy (salak Bali) [2]

Jelly Palm

....fruits (unripe)

Family: Arecaceae •
Genus: Butia •
Species: capitata •
Country of Origin: •
Common Names: Jelly Palm, Pindo palm •

This beautiful feather palm has long pinnate leaves that arch and recurve towards the ground from atop a thick stout trunk. The trunk can grow to 20 feet, but normally reaches 12-15 ft. Leaves range from light green to bluish gray and grow 5 to 10 feet long. The leaf stems range from about 2-4 ft in length and have spines along both edges. Like many palms, the Pindo produces an elaborate flowering structure called an inflorescence - the orange fruit forms on these structures after the female flowers have been pollinated. In the deep south, a jelly is made from these fruits. They have a terrific taste that starts out like apple and transforms to tart tropical flavors as it tantalizes the tongue. This palm produces a large quantity of fruit, which can be a nuisance, as ripening fruit attracts wasps and other insects. Remove flower stalks to avoid messy cleanups. The pindo fruits are rather tasty, but you probably don't need 50 pounds of them! [3]