1031 Conservation and Use of Palm Trees in Brazil’s Landscaping K.F.L. Pivetta, G.S. Batista, R. Gimenes, T.A. Martins and R.J. Takane Departamento de Produção Vegetal Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista Jaboticabal, São Paulo State Brazil Keywords: Arecaceae, seed germination, pests, diseases, substrate Abstract Palm trees belong to the Arecaceae family and are widely utilized in landscaping of tropical countries. Although there are many species, just a few are used in Brazil’s landscaping, the majority coming from other countries. So, this study had the objective to characterize the plants in the collection of palm trees at UNESP/FCAV, Campus of Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The germination of seeds was also studied to increase the production of seedlings for use in landscaping, as this is the biggest difficulty for spreading new species. The introduction of new species in the collection was accomplished. It was also made a survey of major pests and diseases that occur in the collection. The most common pests found were: Brassolis sophorae, Parisoschoenus obesulus, Rhynchophorus palmarum and Coraliomela sp., and the most common disease causing fungi: Colletrotrichum sp., Curvularia sp., Bipolaris sp., Helminthosporium sp., Alternaria sp., Phyllosticta sp., Pestalotia sp., Exosporium palmivorum and Ceratocystis pardoxa. INTRODUCTION The palm trees belong to the Arecaceae family, and have been described over 3500 species grouped in more than 240 genera, scattered around the world, mainly in tropical regions of Asia, Indonesia, Pacific Islands and the Americas (Lorenzi et al., 2004). Although there are many species, just a few are used in Brazil’s landscaping, the majority coming from other countries. Palms are notorious for the slow and uneven seed germination. The germination process is influenced by several factors such as substrate, among others (Meerow, 1991; Pivetta et al., 2007). So, this study had the objective to characterize the plants in the collection of palm trees at UNESP/FCAV, Campus of Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The germination of seeds was also studied to increase the production of seedlings for use in landscaping, as this is the biggest difficulty for spreading new species. MATERIAL AND METHODS The work was carried out in the collection of palms UNESP/FCAV, Jaboticabal, SP. A survey of 250 plants was done by observing the main features such as height, diameter of stipe, aspects of flowering and fruiting of each plant. Particularities of the stipe as presence of spines or sheaths remaining, format, as well as leaves, flowers and infructescenses were studied too. Studies on seed germination were carried out with species and hybrids that produced at least 550 seeds per cycle while maintaining at least 20 plots and 100 seeds per treatment. Were studied 5 substrates (sand, coconut fiber Golden Mix-type 80 - Fibrosis without fertilization, vermiculites (fine and medium texture) and soil: bovine manure, 3: 1 v/v). Four replications with 25 seeds per replication had been used in a completely randomized design. The disseminules (seeds with endocarp attached) were placed to germinate in Proc. II nd Int’l Conf. on Landscape and Urban Hort. Eds.: G. Prosdocimi Gianquinto and F. Orsini Acta Hort. 881, ISHS 2010