Cocos palm

How to identify a cocos palm

A cocos palm has a single straight, smooth grey trunk about 30 cm thick, marked with widely spaced rings where old fronds were attached. The crown holds arching fronds up to 5 metres long, with hundreds of narrow leaflets sticking out in several directions, so each frond looks like a plume rather than a flat feather. Dead fronds tend to hang down against the trunk instead of dropping. Branched flower clusters up to 2 metres long carry small creamy-yellow flowers, followed by heavy hanging bunches of egg-shaped fruit that turn yellow, then orange. The native bangalow palm, by contrast, sheds its old fronds cleanly.

Growing a cocos palm in Brisbane

Cocos palms were long a common choice in Queensland gardens and streets, and South East Queensland is where the palm has spread most widely. The trouble starts after planting: each palm produces masses of fruit, bats and other animals carry the seed, and seedlings come up in gardens, along creeks and in dry eucalypt forest. Brisbane City Council lists it as pest vegetation, and Grow Me Instead suggests native palms such as the bangalow as better choices for subtropical gardens.

What to watch out for

Brisbane City Council lists cocos palm as pest vegetation, and it is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland because it seeds so freely. It is also hard on flying-foxes: green fruit can be toxic to them, the sticky fruit can cause fatal constipation in young animals, seeds can lodge behind their teeth, and they can get caught in the fronds and flower sheaths. Dead fronds hang on the trunk and fallen fruit ferments, so the palm looks untidy.

• Seedlings. It seeds heavily, bats and other animals spread the seed, and seedlings can form thick carpets that crowd out native regrowth.
• Mess. Dead fronds hang on the trunk for months instead of falling, and dropped fruit ferments on the ground.

Pruning and care

If you keep a cocos palm for now, cut off the dead fronds, because this palm does not shed them on its own. Pick up fallen fruit and seal it in plastic bags before disposal, and pull or dig out any seedlings sprouting near the base. To get rid of a palm, Business Queensland suggests cutting off the crown below the lowest frond. Climbing a tall palm, or working near power lines, is a job for a trained professional with the right gear.

• Palm tree removal
• Stump grinding