A frond in need is a frond indeed

I am hoping that Spring has finally sprung in north Georgia. In my part of the globe, weather-wise, March is always a bit iffy but April is more reliable. So far this year I have spotted jonquils, daffodils, tulips, phlox, forsythia, azaleas, Bradford pear trees in full blossom, dogwoods (both pink and white), flowering peach, tulip trees (more accurately, magnolia x soulangiana), and redbuds (which are fuchsia, not red). I'm eagerly awaiting more of our annual outburst of local flora.

When we lived in Florida (in the 1960s and 1970s) the flora were more exotic -- ixora, hibiscus, bougainvilla, oleander, Confederate jasmine, poinsettia, and I was told that Florida had 26 different kinds of palm trees.

I am in the habit of verifying statements of fact hat I make because I don't want to be guilty of misleading you. So immediately after telling you there were 26 kinds of palm trees in Florida (of which I can name only royal palm, coconut palm, sago palm, cabbage palm, sabal palm, and alexander palm), I turned to my old friend Wikipedia. Speaking of being told something, I am told that Wikipedia is not considered a reliable source because it can be so easily edited by just about anybody, but old habits die hard. I did not find how many kinds of palm trees there are in Florida, but I did read that there are 2,600 species of palm trees in the world. By doing the math we say with confidence that 1% of them can be found in Florida. That fact, for good or ill, is now stuck in my head, along with the BBC's report from 2015 that Scotland has 421 words for snow.

Here is a photograph of a coconut palm on the island of Martinique:

That photograph makes me happy. I'd like to be there right now.

Here's a link showing some but not all of the different kinds of palm trees found in Florida.

In case palm trees don't float your boat, try these fascinating posts by two of my favorite blogging friends:

1. Vagabonde's current post: Picasso in Nashville, the weather and Paducah, KY

2. Tasker Dunham's current post: Salman Rushdie: Midnight’s Children

Maybe you will find a new frond, er, friend.