i am pretty sure.. there is a tropical plant forum ... in case we fail here ...

be nice to know where you are ... and how bad winter was ...

the pic is rather washed out.. dont these types of plants.. have the lower fronds removed every season??? .. if so.. and its the old lower ones.. perhaps its time for the annual prune ...

ken

Thanks for your input. We are in Mobile, Al on the coast. Winter wasn't all that bad (did have one freeze into the low twenties). I prune it annually (actually just did it today) but the rot around the trunk seems to be getting worse. Where the rot is taking place is about a foot or two above the ground and continues up to about four feet. The tree itself is about thirty or so feet tall and the bark up top seems fine

I am by no means an expert on palm trees but trunk (stem) rots are generally an indication of some sort of fungal pathogen. And there seem to be several that are particularly virulent in palms in southeastern areas and could very likely result in the demise of your tree.

I'd take these photos into your local cooperative extension service office for their opinion. There is an office in Mobile.

Yes, exactly-you need to enlist the help of a local expert on such matters. And considering the rate with which state governors with the letter R after their names are eliminating such programs as county hort. extension agents, I wouldn't wait around!

+om

There is also a Palm Forum in Houzz. Might be a good place to start (easy) as well. P. canariensis and P. dactylifera or sylvestris are more subtropical palms and I doubt you'd get much help in the Tropical Plant section.