5 ms·

I visited Devon on my trip to the UK and was really surprised to see palm trees around the coast.

• gerdesj 3y ago
  That would be the Devon "Riviera": Torquay/Paignton.
• zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
  Speaking of palm trees in unexpected places, I was excited to see them in Vancouver, BC
• teruakohatu 3y ago
  They are called palms in that region but are Cordyline australis from New Zealand where they are called cabbage trees and are everywhere. They do quite well in colder New Zealand climate regions. If you are unlucky to live next door to a mature cabbage tree planted along the neighbours fence, you will spend your life picking up fallen leaves, which cannot be put in our green waste bins, on general refuse, because they don't decompose easily (18 months under careful ideal composting conditions, years otherwise). Its not uncommon to find a giant pile of cabbage tree leaves behind someone's house because they have been meaning for years to take them to the rubbish dump. Every so often someone asks on reddit what they should do with their pile. Another interesting face is they can live to 400+ years although often they can rot internally after 100.
  • quickthrower2 3y ago
    Would they make good material for roofing?
    • teruakohatu 3y ago
      They are not very long. So I wouldn't think so. And in New Zealand almost all roofs are steel.
  • redjet 3y ago
    Canary date palms (phoenix canariensis) can and do grow in southern England, although they don't fruit. Immature date palms need to be protected in winter, this is often achieved by bundling and tying the fronds together.
• rjh29 3y ago
  Where I grew up. I always wince at the name "English Riviera" though.
  • gerdesj 3y ago
    Where did you grow up? Côte d'Azur? Right, let's dig into the authoritative source of all knowledge ... Wikipedia! According to that: "Riviera is an Italian word that originates from the ancient Ligurian territory of Italy" So the French region that Torbay riffs on is also itself riffing on an Italian region. and: "The Côte d'Azur (coast of azure) is a nickname given by France to the County of Nice after its annexation in 1860, because the climate was similar to that of the north of Italy," When you look at it like that: English/Devon/Torbay Riviera is simply following a proud European tradition. Riviera is simply a generic term (originates from Italian) for a region with a specific climate. If you read further through the WP article it seems that Brits were involved in the original use of the term and that explains why we would designate a similarly named region here. No need to cringe.
    • seszett 3y ago
      > So the French region that Torbay riffs on is also itself riffing on an Italian region. Maybe nitpicking but the French Riviera is just the (now) French side of the "original" Riviera. It's not a reference to a different place. Nice used to be part of Liguria before the 1860 annexation and the English simply kept refering to it as Riviera (while the French, including locals, only call it Côte d'Azur).
      • gerdesj 3y ago
        Our parent is almost certainly a Devonian. My mum was born in Dartmouth. I went to school in Newton Abbot. I understand why using the term Riviera might look a bit naff for Torbay - hence the cringe. Riviera is still an Italian term, regardless of where it is applied - France or Inglaterra.