This supplement is additional information to the following article as seen in Issue Six:

Your Guide To Gardening In Cyclone Areas (pp. 26-31)
...for more about palms for cyclone areas & less resilient plant types.
by Anton van der Schans MAIH, Landscape Architect – Cairns

Feather Palms
Most Palms with sparse crowns of light fronds do little damage when they shed their fronds, and their slender trunks provide great flexibility.

Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is perhaps the most resilient of all tall plants, taking the full brunt of onshore gusts and surviving inundation by the sea during tidal surges. They do need to be denutted regularly lest these become potentially lethal missiles and remember that old specimens can attain dizzying heights and will eventually topple over.
Hurricane / princess palm (Dictyosperma alba) is appropriately named as it tolerates coastal exposure in its Mauritius habitat, and makes a reasonable (though less tolerant of front line salt) and compact coconut substitute.

Alexandra palm (Archontophoenix alexandrae) and black plam (Normanbya normanbyi) from N.E. Qld, as well as Gulubia costata from Cape York, and the Darwin palm (Carpentaria acuminata) from the Top End, are native feather palms typically occurring in palm swamp communities, with dense fibrous root systems well anchored in boggy soils. Gulubia in its habitat often develops picturesque leaning trunks and with its crown of large drooping fronds could make a graceful, safe substitute for the Coconut as its fruit are only tiny.

Foxtail palm (Wodyetia bifurcata) occurs on exposed rocky hillsides near the coast on Cape York Peninsula and appears to withstand cyclones.
Cuban royal palm (Roystonea regia) occurs in swampy areas around the Caribbean, surviving their frequent hurricanes by allowing their fronds to shear off at the crownshaft. These can do some damage, so this palm needs to be given some space, which its grand scale demands visually anyway.

Palms with top-heavy canopies
Fishtail palms (Caryota urens – and other single trunked species such as. C. no, C. maxima, C. rumphiana, etc.) and to a lesser extent the clumping Caryota mitis. These palms have dense canopies that seem pre-ordained to act as sails, but fortunately their scruffy appearance has also made them unpopular in more recent decades.

Fan Palms (Livistona decipiens, Corypha utan and Bismarkia nobilis) are typically less cyclone resistant than feather palms, however many specimens withstood cyclone Larry, such that they should still be considered for planting clear of structures.

Fiji fan palm (Pritchardia pacifica) does appear to be very wind resistant, and seems to need a coastal site in the tropics exposed to breezy salt air to remain free of a disfiguring leaf fungus.

Cairns fan palm (Livistona muelleri) is native from Cairns through to Cape York in open woodland often in big groves on the worst white clay soils. It is slow growing, takes fire, flooding or drought, remaining small for decades with a compact crown of stiff, glaucous fronds complimenting Pritchardia.

Sabal palmetto, Thrinax spp. and other genera from the Caribbean appear to be tough resilient, often small to moderate palms that should also appeal to palm collectors keen to source them from specialist nurseries.

Less resilient plant types
Bamboos – Generally all the taller clumping types have a very compact fibrous root system that usually lifts in one piece as the whole clump topples over (but by cutting after the weight off the top will often flip back into the hole it left).

Many of the tropical clumping bamboos are rainforest edge plants, so can still be suitable in large gardens planted with sturdy shelterbelt trees.

Only grow clumping forms of bamboo. Running bamboos are undesirable. Better choices are some of the shorter, shrubby clumping bamboos such as hedge / fairy bamboo (Bambusa multiplex cultivars) and tiger grass (Thysanolaena maxima) which even in the worst case can do no real damage and are easily cleaned up.

Fast growing, brittle soft-wooded trees with top-heavy canopies
African tulip (Spathodea campanulata) often beguiles newcomers to the tropics with its vivid vermillion blooms; however it is equally renowned for its brittle, unstable manners and weedy proliferation along disturbed rainforest edges. The yellow flowered form is potentially just as unacceptable.

Brazilian fern tree/tower tree (Schizolobium parahyba) was once (and deservedly) very popular for its dramatic rapid growth, frond like leaves and spectacular flower display, however it becomes very tall with surface roots mainly in the topsoil layer and more often than not keels over. Despite these faults, if you have enough room well away from structures, and preferably deep well drained soil, then you might consider planting it.

Golden bouquet (Deplanchea tetraphylla) is unfortunately fast growing with big leaves that catch the wind, and is often left with a ragged broken canopy. It is still worth having in larger gardens away from the home in a mixed tree planting for its enormous flowerheads dripping with nectar.

Gum trees (Eucalyptus/Corymbia spp.), regrettably these iconic Australian trees can be brittle, dropping large limbs or toppling, their root systems are also sensitive to the inevitable disturbance caused by adjacent construction of houses etc.; such that it is better to avoid planting close to homes. However there are exceptions: Moreton Bay ash (Corymbia tessellaris) which occurs along much of the Queensland coast and its hinterland is generally very sound, dropping few branches with the advantage throughout the year of finer, less messy bark, twig and leaf litter.

Swamp bloodwood (Corymbia ptychocarpa) is a small to medium tree from the Top End that suits heavy soils and usually only suffers minor damage and could be safely recommended for most gardens, its huge nectar rich flowers are a big bonus.

Yellow poinciana (Peltophorum pterocarpum) a popular medium sized tree with a brittle structure which rapidly collapses during widy weather.

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