Are Two Heads Better Than One?

[Koa Man]

Anyone see a 2 headed coconut palm before?

 

[jefflovstrom]

Not that rare. Hope you removed that tree that you spiked the hell out of!
Jeff

 

[beowulf343]

So jeff, i've never even touched a palm. How would you do it? Is the crotch of those leaves strong enough to tie into?

 

[jefflovstrom]

Get a big shot and put it right thru the top - right where his smiling face is.
Jeff

 

[Koa Man]

Not that rare. Hope you removed that tree that you spiked the hell out of!
Jeff

Of course not. Why would I remove a rare palm. And if it is "not that rare" how many have you seen? I am pretty sure there are more coconut palms in Hawaii than where you are and of the thousands of coconut palms I have seen, this is the only two headed one I know of.

As for spiking the palms, it is an accepted practice here, even among certified arborists. The University of Hawaii did a study and found other than appearance, it did not affect the life span or health of the palms in Hawaii. On new planting that have not been spiked before or have been spiked only a couple of times and the trunk is still nice, we normally will use a lift. If it is not accessible by a lift, we use tree climbing stands, strap on tree ladders, or a combination of both to get to the top. This palm has been spiked hundreds of times before so the trunk is already scarred up and spiking it another 100 times won't make a bit of difference.

How personally familiar are you with palms? I have trimmed over 20,000 in my career thus far. I do about 2500 a year. I trimmed 180 in the past month and next month I got 330 scheduled. You might be happy to know that of the 180, 165 were done spikeless and of the 330 scheduled for next month, 260 will be spikeless.

 

[mckeetree]

I can see where this is headed.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Me too
opcorn:

 

[treeseer]

Cool pics Koa thanks.

I can see where this is headed.

Nah Jeff's got more sense than that.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The one above is for sale for $1,000,000

Top and bottom could be same tree from different shots, the bottom was from the Ivory Cost.

Could the head have been damaged while trimming, or sump'tin
I got a number of hits searching two headed coconut palm

 

[jefflovstrom]

;

Cool pics Koa thanks.



Nah Jeff's got more sense than that.

Not going there, cool pics and good job, Koa!
Jeff

 

[M.D. Vaden]

So are you up there picking?

Yearly crop?

 

[Koa Man]

I got a number of hits searching two headed coconut palm

There are a few in the WORLD. One article stated that on a coconut plantation of 150,000 palms, only one had more than one head.

Those 3 and 8 headed ones are probably the only ones in the world. Even if they are a few more, it still is very rare. After reading the various articles, I would now say, extremely rare.

 

[jefflovstrom]

I heard that more people are killed by falling coconuts each year than people drowning.
Jeff

 

[jefflovstrom]

There are a few in the WORLD. One article stated that on a coconut plantation of 150,000 palms, only one had more than one head.

Those 3 and 8 headed ones are probably the only ones in the world. Even if they are a few more, it still is very rare. After reading the various articles, I would now say, extremely rare.

What about the dactilifera's,(true date palm) we got like 5 or 6 heads coming out? If you are talking species specific, ok, if you are talking about climbing, ok.
Jeff

 

[Koa Man]

Yes, I am specifically speaking about cocos nucifera. Our lauhala palms ALL have multiple heads, 40 or more of them.

You are a good guy Jeff, I like you.
If you know my name, you can find a lot of my work photos on Facebook.

 

[treeclimber101]

UMMMM yea you wouldn't see me in a palm that size , they look like limp ####s to me , swaying around as you climb forget that ,you can keep em ..

 

[jefflovstrom]

UMMMM yea you wouldn't see me in a palm that size , they look like limp ####s to me , swaying around as you climb forget that ,you can keep em ..

I bet you would really like it. Swaying 10 feet or so while cutting and always looking up.
Jeff

 

[tree md]

Very cool!

I know nothing about palms but sounds like a rare find.

Nice job!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

What would a 250# guy with a saw and harness look like on one of those bean poles?

FWIW

1) Article by Dr. Peter Barss in the Journal of Trauma entitled "Injuries Due to Falling Coconuts." (The article received an Ig Nobel Prize, given annually at Harvard by the editors of the Annals of Improbable Research in recognition of research that "cannot or should not be replicated." The award was presented in 2001, notwithstanding that the paper had been published in 1984. ( nine injuries in Papua New Guinea due to falling coconuts, none fatal. Barss notes that a coconut palm tree commonly reaches 25 meters in height, that a coconut can weigh two kilograms or more, and that a two-kilogram coconut falling 25 meters would have a velocity of 80 kilometers per hour on impact and a force of as much as 1,000 kilograms. Several victims suffered fractured skulls, were rendered comatose, etc.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Those 3 and 8 headed ones are probably the only ones in the world. Even if they are a few more, it still is very rare. After reading the various articles, I would now say, extremely rare.

Same here, one article attributed the bifurcation to insect wounding.