Learned Something New Today!

These are the seedlings of a Mexican Fan Palm, or Washingtonia robusta.  They were growing by the hundreds in a flowerbed under the parent palm tree, looking for all the world like weeds.  I had never seen palm tree seedlings before.  I wish you could feel the texture of them.  They look like grass, but the leaf is much stiffer, almost like a little dracaena. 

All palm trees are grown from seeds, although much work is being done to try to propagate them vegetatively.  Mexican Fan Palms are apparently easy to grow from seed, and will germinate at temperatures between about 75 and 85 degrees F, in a very short time, perhaps two weeks.  That's good news for seed starters -- some palm trees require weeks at temperatures in excess of 100 degrees!

I may plant these little babies, just to see what happens.  I've never been a palm person, but since so many of them froze back this winter, I've been trying to learn more about them.  We'll see how they turn out!