Visit Mt. Palmetum when you Visit Nevis

Visit Mount Palmetum while in Nevis to learn and enjoy
over 150 marked Species of Palms at Mount Palmetum

  We believe it has more different palms than any island in the Lesser Antilles. Lewis F. Knudsen planted the first palms at Mount Palmetum in the 1970s. Most of the palms were grown from seeds collected form around the world. We look forward in showing more pictures and descriptions from the gardens. Mount Palmetum has over 200 of the 3,050 recognized palm species.

The plant kingdom’s largest seed is also produced by a palm tree, the Double Coconut (Lodoicea maldavica). This large seed takes 5 years to mature. Palms have several variation in their reproductive systems; some have bisexual flowers with both functional male and female parts, many palms have separate male and female flowers on the same plant, other palms species produce separate male and female plants altogether, with flowers of only one sex occurring on any one particular plant. All species of the Phoenix genre (date palms) fit into this third category.

  Palm trees are monocots as are lilies, grasses, irises, orchids, and bromeliads. The other classification of plants, dicots, are capable of secondary growth . This means that a dicot stem is always producing new tissue and increasing in diameter as it ages. Dicots can repair injuries to its stem, dicots can be grafted and budded. Once a palm tree has reached its maximum growth it gets no bigger and palms do not produce annual growth rings as do dicot trees. Very few palms have the ability to branch on their aerial stems, therefore, injuries to the growing bud or “palm heart” means almost certain death for the tree.

palmate or costapalmate fan palms	pinnate or bipinnate leaves feather palms	single leaves single leaves
Palm leaf blades identified above fall into three main classes

  The leaf bases of some feather-leafed palms sheath each other so tightly around the stem that they form a conspicuous neck-like structure called a crownshaft. The flowers form below the crownshaft as seen below.

  Palms are important economically because they contribute food sources: sugar, starch, beverages, oil, fruit ; Palms provide building materials, nectar for bees, waxes, weaving materials and vegetable ivory for carving. Since the Victorian era palms have been important elements in landscape and interior design.

Visit Mt. Palmetum on your Visit to Nevis

Mount Palmetum - Upper Jessup Village
Open Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 1pm
Admission:$13EC/$5US
Phone: 668-4986

© 2007-08 Mount Palmetum Plantation