(no subject)

[omorka]

The sago cycads around here are all blooming. The male plants have sent up giant yellow vaguely phallic pollen-cones. In a couple of places, they're next to agaves with their eleven-foot-tall flowering spikes and aloes with their yard-long ones; the effect would make a good set dressing for an alien ecosystem.

What fool planted this many sagoes here? These things need good drainange to thrive, something the vast majority of locations in Houston have not got. Worse, they're poisonous (most cycads are) - as poisonous as oleander. I suspect breathing the pollen doesn't do anyone any favors, either.

Comments

[geki-burakku.livejournal.com]

Might explain why the pollen this year has been so especially nasty and evil and vicious...?

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Possibly, although I would imagine cycad pollen is pretty heavy, too - probably only an issue if one lives near you. Still, a lot of people use them as a decorative plant.

[cifarelli]

Really? Sagos are poisonous? I had no idea.

We had one in the front yard at our previous house (placed originally by the builder) and it thrived pretty well, and I never worried about Corwin with it (aside from his getting poked, since the buggers have SHARP needles) at all. *sigh* I used to prune the heck out of it (to keep its needled branches from taking over the sidewalk to the front door) and never worried. Now we have an oleander in our front yard (also placed by the builder) and I worry about that one all the time. It's pretty, and exactly the type of plant we'd love to plant along our back fence (appearance wise) but we're not adding any more of them due to the poison factor. My sense of aesthetics is warring with my sense of safety as to whether we should remove the one in front.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Well, there are two different plants that are both called sago palms. The one that's a true palm isn't poisonous at all; in fact, the pith in its trunk is eminently edible and produces a starch that's a staple in some parts of the globe. But the sago cycad is toxic to most mammals - both humans and pets. And that's the one with the sharp, stiff needles, so that's probably what you had.

Myself, oleander scares the heck out of me.