Buccaneer Palm
A state endangered palm, down to one wild population, and slow enough to test your patience
Pseudophoenix sargentii
Photo: Longleaf Design
Why it works here
This is one of the rarest palms in Florida. It is state listed endangered, and in the wild it is down to a single surviving population in Biscayne National Park after the Long Key population was wiped out. Theft, development, and Hurricane Andrew did most of that. So planting a nursery grown one is a real conservation act, and it is legal, and it matters. It is also just a beautiful palm: a swollen, smooth, blue green trunk, a compact crown, and clusters of red fruit. It wants limestone or shell and sharp drainage, and it will take salt wind all day. Now the two honest parts. First, at Stuart we are at the northern edge of what it tolerates, so a hard freeze is a genuine risk and it belongs in your warmest, most protected spot. Second, it is slow. Not landscape slow, geological slow.
Care
Plant it high in sharp draining soil, water it through establishment, then stop. It has low nutritional needs, so do not feed it much, and keep lawn fertilizer away from the root zone. Do not wound the trunk, do not use spikes, do not over prune. That is basically the entire care program. The hard part is not the care, it is the waiting.
Common problems
The growth rate. One to two new fronds a year is what people record. A small container plant stays small for a decade. This is not a problem you can fix with care, so I would rather you know it before you buy.
Cold. At our latitude a hard freeze can damage or kill it, especially a young one. Site it against a south facing wall or under some canopy and away from open low spots where cold air settles.
Lethal bronzing. The UF fact sheet on this palm says it has no disease problems, but UF's own lethal bronzing publication lists buccaneer palm as a confirmed host. Same university, two documents, and I go with the one that says host. Same design response as any palm: diversity, no monoculture rows, no trunk wounds, fast removal if it happens.
Common questions
Is it legal for me to plant an endangered palm?
Yes, and it is a good thing to do. What is illegal is collecting from the wild, which is a big part of why this palm is in trouble in the first place. Buy nursery propagated stock from a licensed Florida nursery and you are adding to the species, not subtracting.
How long until it looks like the photo?
Longer than you want. At one or two fronds a year, if you want presence you buy presence. That is the honest math on this palm, and it is why a specimen sized one costs what it costs.
Can I use it instead of a coconut palm?
Not really. It is a fraction of the size and a small fraction of the speed. If you want the look of a coconut, this will disappoint you. If you want a rare, refined, salt proof accent palm that you plant once and never think about again, this is your plant.
Interested in a buccaneer palm in your landscape?
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