I was at my father’s this weekend when I noticed this Fishtail Palm.

Actually it was the shower of golden berries hanging outside his bedroom balcony caught my eye.  They looked quite splendid like a bunch of cascading gold beads. I thought it was some kind of betel nut but bit my father said, “It’s the most useless fruit imaginable”.

“Why did you plant such a useless tree?”

“Because it is an ornamental palm that has unique fishtail leaves.”

“What use are they to you then?”

“They are used in floral arrangements.”

Considering that the palms are so high up that my dad would need a 20′ ladder to bring down the lowest frond, it was hardly likely that he would bring down a leaf or two to use in the weekly flower arrangement.

Besides my father isn’t in the least bit interested in flower arrangements!!!!

Would you plant this tree in your garden?

In fact, do you plant ornamental trees at all? Or do you just stick to those trees that are useful and fruit-bearing?

p.s. My father assured me that when the berries fall down they create quite a mess. And cleaning it up is quite a task!

Sharing this with other tree lovers on Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove-70 .

Ciao