Needle palm, January 2015
Something smells a bit funky in my garden this time of year. The fruits of needle palms (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) ripen in late fall in dense clusters at the base of the plant and look--and smell--like some wild animal came along and pooped out a big pile of scat. I suppose this must be attractive to some animal that disperses the seeds, but I don't think anybody has figured out for sure what animal that might be. The flowers it produces in late spring are about as appealing, looking like some strange fungus attacking the plant.
