By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter
Phoenix date palm trees may look elegant but they have been put on the hit list of some doctors, plant sellers and councils because of the injuries they inflict on barefoot children.
Doctors say spikes from the palms were responsible for 8 per cent of foreign-body injuries treated at the Starship children's hospital in Auckland between 1992 and 1997.
Their study of the treatment of the 21 spike victims, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery this month, cautions against planting the palms in schools, playgrounds, gardens or any place where youngsters can go near them.
The spikes, part of the leaf structure and brittle once dry, can exceed 10cm in length and be as thin as a needle.
One of the authors, Dr Chris Adams, who now works at Hutt Hospital, said yesterday that in injury cases, 2cm to 3cm of the spike broke off and could move around under the skin.
Parents might think they had extracted it all, but fragments could remain, leading to an infection or arthritis-like symptoms such as joint pain or swelling.
Overseas, the knees were usually where most injuries occurred, but the Auckland study found hands and feet the most common.
"This reflects the habits of New Zealand children, who have a propensity to go barefoot during hot weather," the doctors wrote in the journal.
The Ministry of Education national property manager, Paul Burke, said last night that landscaping was under the control of individual school boards.
He was not aware of the palm-spike problem, but the ministry would now inform schools of the hazards on its Internet Website.
A handful of "notable" phoenix date palms are protected by the Auckland City Council, although the species is not covered by general tree-protection rules, meaning owners can chop down any others without a resource consent.
Many developers still wanted to plant the palms in West Auckland, says the Waitakere City Council landscape development manager, Lois Easton. For the past 18 months, the council had not approved subdivision landscape plans including them because of their dangerous spikes.
Sandy Milliken, of Ferns Garden Centre in Otahuhu, said there was little demand for the palms. The centre sold the plants but discouraged people from buying them because they were hazardous.
Palm spikes lie in wait for small feet
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.