Palm trees are beautiful. They're also special because we know they certainly don't grow in every environment. Did you ever wonder how tall they can get and where the tallest ones in the world are located? Wonder no more! The tallest palm trees are called wax palms, and they grow right here in Colombia! In fact, the wax palm is the national tree of Colombia.
This plant is very tall, and it's actually a flowering plant, not a true tree! Palms in general have a much thinner "trunks" than the average tree, and they don't form rings as they grow like trees do. Still, palms are pretty cool plants. Wax palms in particular can grow as tall as 200 feet! Sometimes I wonder how they don't topple over, but palms are pretty flexible, so they bend better in the wind than true trees. The stems of wax palms, what we may think of as the trunks, are covered in wax, hence their name. The leaves at the top, called the foliage or crown, are dark green and lacey-looking.
Seeing the wax palms in the Valle de Cocora took my breath away. I didn't know palm trees grew this tall.
