17 September 2010

CARYOTA NO

Yesterday, when I passed by the Water Garden, I was shocked to find the inflorescence spike of the Caryota no palm removed. The severed giant whisk was lying on the ground in a dejected state, like me.

I was observing its development for months now but it was prematurely removed. What more can I say? When I asked the worker why it was removed, his answer was because they were worried the huge and heavy inflorescence would bring down the palm.

For this single-stemmed palm, the palm would usually die off, much like the Furcraea in the previous post, after its bid to propagate itself. The process of producing such a large flowering and fruiting structure exhausts a lot of energy from the plant and it would not survive the arduous journey.

Now that it has been removed, what would be the plight of the palm? Would it also die off prematurely? I guess I can only watch and observe it.