This is a beautiful cold hardy palm that is very easy to grow. It is also drought tolerant, inexpensive and readily available at nurseries and discount stores. 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. Too bad the fruit has a large seed and stringy fibrous flesh or we would eat them by the handful!
This palm produces a large quantity of fruit, which can be a nuisance, as ripening fruit attracts wasps and other insects. Remove flowers to avoid messy cleanups. The pindo fruits are rather tasty, but you probably don't need 50 pounds of them!
This is particularly nice bunch of pindo palm dates. The cluster is being supported in an upright position by an adjacent leaf stem showing the fruit off to full advantage. Typically the heavy clusters droop and hang downward against the trunk.
That's certainly something we don't see around here. Thanks for the education! Nice pics.
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