# Are coconuts/palm trees native to Florida?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-coconuts-palm-trees-native-to-florida/54174>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 12, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-coconuts-palm-trees-native-to-florida/54174 "2001-02-12T17:57:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-coconuts-palm-trees-native-to-florida/54174/1 "2001-02-12T17:57:59Z")

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I was under the impression they were not, because of the following story:

From  
[http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,59587+1+58130,00.html?query=coconuts%20palm%20beach](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,59587+1+58130,00.html?query=coconuts%20palm%20beach)

> [@](#):
>
> “In 1878 a shipwrecked cargo of coconuts was washed onto the barren, sandy beach and took root. Early settlers also gathered the nuts and planted them to create a palm-shaded haven, which was named Palm City in 1880. Renamed Palm Beach in 1887, it developed as a resort after Henry Flagler extended the Florida East Coast Railroad to West Palm Beach in 1894 and opened his Royal Poinciana Hotel. “

But with a little more thought, I realized this does not necessarily mean there were absolutely no palm trees before this, it could be that there were a few around but this event made them really take off. And, the story only references the Palm Beach area, and not all of Florida.

Anybody know the straight dope?

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-coconuts-palm-trees-native-to-florida/54174/2 "2001-02-12T18:29:13Z")

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I did some more web searching, and found one site ([http://www.geobop.com/World/NA/US/FL/Tree.htm](http://www.geobop.com/World/NA/US/FL/Tree.htm)) that says that the coconut palm is non-native.

I should have been more specific in my OP; there are more types of palms than the coconut palm. Right now I’m thinking that there were types of palms other than the coconut that are native to Florida, and the coconut palm was introduced in 1878.

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**Author:** ![Sprocket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Sprocket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sprocket)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-coconuts-palm-trees-native-to-florida/54174/3 "2001-02-12T19:12:22Z")

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There are many non-coconut palms that are native to Florida  
such as the Sabal and Saw Palmetto. There are also alot of  
imported Palms like the Royal, Canary Island Date, and Chinese Fan Palm.

As for coconuts there are also different varieties. If there is one species that’s indigenous to the area I would  
guess it to the Jamican variety. After Lethal Yellowing set in during the '70s, alot of Malayn Dwarfs were introduced (resistant to LY).