Wow, I've never been to FL and am not too familiar with the palms and cycads there but that kinda looks like some sort of ill-conceived sago palm (cycad) without the bulbous trunk part. I'm just attempting humor there as I don't really know. I've had a sago palm in a pot now for 6 years and it has grown alot but not that big but it has similar scaly "bark". Maybe the bulbous part of yours is beneath the ground.
You might also try the Palm and Cycads forum. I believe there are knowledgeable people there too and some even from FL.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/palms/

Intrepyd, it's a little hard to interpret that photo, but if the plant is a "cabbage palm", these could be the "boots" forming on the trunk. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I regarding subtropical stuff will chime in, but that's my take on it thus far. "Boots" are normal structures which form on cabbage palms and maybe some other palm species as well. I've never read or heard a decent explanation of what or why!

+oM

I think you should take a pic of the entire 'palm' or whatever it is. It just looks like adventitious roots to me.

Common on many tropical plants -- some palms, pandanus, ficus, etc.

Yeah, it's the root initiation zone creeping upward, which is very common on palms and doesn't indicate a problem. Palms are weird, and anatomically different in many respects from "true" trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: Normal Abnormalities in Palms - UF/IFAS

This post was edited by saccharum on Wed, Nov 19, 14 at 12:24