Palm trees are native here!

[Barrie]

Here's an article form the Harbour City Star newspaper in Nanaimo BC.

Cheers, Barrie.


Palms trees are native here after all

Darrell Bellaart
The Star


Saturday, August 30, 2008


The not-in-my-backyard mind-set that succeeded in stopping palm trees being planted in Departure Bay has lost another argument in their case against tropical flora.

It turns out tropical plants are native to Nanaimo.

Not recently, of course, but if you go back, say, 75 million years or so, you'd see plenty of palm fronds gently swaying in the breeze here. Along with a host of other semi-tropical plants, according to Steven Earle, the head of Vancouver Island University's geology department.

Now granted palm trees aren't normally something a geologist has a lot of expertise in, but Earle was explaining how crews came to discover a three-metre petrified palm log in the Harewood Mall parking lot. It turns out palms were part of the natural foliage around these parts long before humans came along with names like Nanaimo and Departure Bay.

A few years ago, a benevolent donor approached city hall with an offer to pay $25,000 to plant 15 large palm trees along the beach section of Departure Bay Road, but that led to an outcry from some in that neighbourhood.

The main argument against planting palm trees was that they're not native. Well guess what -- that's not true. The plants are native, except for the fact they disappeared a few millennia ago.

Other arguments were raised for not decorating Nanaimo's favourite seaside beach with palms, including those who said palms can look messy.

Opponents have always argued for native species, but the reality is, native species can look at least as messy as the least cared for palm tree.

Take a look at a grove of arbutus trees in mid-summer, with all their yellow leaves scattered around their roots.

Not to say arbutus would be a poor choice, but let's keep in mind those who oppose change seldom give the real reason for their opposition. Something tells me the people who argued loudest and longest against the palm trees really wanted to avoid drawing too much attention to their special place. Just imagine the postcards home to friends and family on the prairies, showing palm trees blowing on the beaches of our little Pacific island. Soon everyone would want to come and enjoy Departure Bay, and, by gosh, you can't have that.

It's a moot point now. The mystery palm tree donor has since withdrawn his offer. The beach improvements are finished, complete with an adequate, though far less interesting, assortment of plants.

Instead of taking the opportunity to let Nanaimo shine and show itself off to the world, a few NIMBYs chose instead to keep the sandbox all to themselves. That's unfortunate.

Oh well, at least we have the petrified palm tree log. No NIMBYs can stop the mall owners from putting that up for display, when Harewood Mall re-opens next year as University Village Nanaimo.

Can they?

Darrell Bellaart is the city hall reporter for the Nanaimo Daily News. Contact him at DBellaart@nanaimodailynews.com.

© Harbour City Star 2008

[lucky1]

Barrie, good article.
'bout time people realized that palms are native to Vancouver and the Island...albeit during the last global warming era

Wonder where that donor went.
Maybe he moved to the Okanagan.
Barb

[Okanagan desert-palms]

Barrie looks like it`s going to be an uphill struggle to get palms planted in public areas for Nanaimo. Maybe some more progressive minds will get on the park board and city council.

John

[Barrie]

Well the thing of it is, there already are palms in nearby Georgia Park and the Island Hwy palms at Stewart Ave.
A donation of $25,000 for 15 large palms, no questions asked, no tax payers money invovled and they turned it down !!!
Some people have their heads a long ways up their Δςš.
There's plenty of palms in private gardens there so not all are opposed.

Cheers, Barrie.

[lucky1]

A donation of $25,000 for 15 large palms, no questions asked, no tax payers money invovled and they turned it down !!!
Some people have their heads a long ways up their Δςš.

You got that right, Barrie.
Barb

[lucky1]

Didn't know whether to post this here or on our discussions on climate change...

The polar ice caps melted dramatically 8,000 to 9,000 years ago, causing sea levels to rise hundreds of feet and submerging the burial grounds of the skeletons

Story here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... etons.html

Barb