🌴Palms vs. 🌳Trees… They’re Not the Same!

Most people call palms “trees,” but botanically they’re very different. Here are a few fun facts:

🌳 Trees are woody. They produce new wood every year, creating growth rings that can reveal their age.

🌴 Palms don’t make wood. They’re giant grasses (more accurately, monocots) with stems made of densely packed fibers instead of true wood.

🌳 Trees grow wider over time. Thanks to a layer called the vascular cambium, most trees increase their trunk diameter every year.

🌴 Palm trunks stay about the same width. Once the trunk forms, it doesn’t continue to expand like a tree’s.

🌳 Trees can recover from losing their tops. Many species can sprout new leaders or branches after damage.

🌴 A palm has one growing point. If the bud at the top (the “heart”) is killed, the entire palm usually dies.

🌳 Tree roots become woody and structural. They anchor the tree and expand over time.

🌴 Palm roots remain similar in diameter throughout their life. Instead of getting thicker, palms continuously produce new roots from the base of the trunk.