"P van Rijckevorsel" wrote in message
...
mel turner schreef
[snip]
I'll bet these palms really don't even budge [apart from during
earthquakes and landslides].

+ + +
Good points. Still I can envision a palm on a hillside being dragged
gradually downhill and being either propped up or being pulled upright by
roots (likely only one or the other mechanism, not both). But this is pure
conjecture. Even at best it won't be a large scale phenomenon (either in
distance covered or number of plants involved).
PvR



When I returned from the last Amazon trip I asked about walking palms on our
Palm list. The locals had told me anecdotes about the stilt palms (Socratea
and Iriartea species) moving into brighter light, growing the new roots
preferentially. I got no scientific answers from the list as to the
validity of the stories. One poster from Thailand verified that a Socratea
(imported from new world) growing in his extensive palm garden had moved
many feet over the years. After reading a bunch of anecdotes posted on the
list of palm enthusiasts, I decided it still may be a myth. No one cited
any journal reports.
Rick