I have a palm in my back yard, I dont know the name of it, I am trying to find it on the computer, but as of yet....no luck. Its all over the villages and is my favorite, its not a regular palm tree, but a darker green and I believe starts out small and grows wide rather than tall if that helps hehe

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I have been watering it and noticed in TV that they trim the bottom part where it looks like a ball (pineapple look), but today when I went out, there was a fungus looking mess all over the whole bottom part. I have fire ants and am taking care of that, but it looks like the same mess that they make. Could it possibly be fire ants? Or a fungus? Is there anything I can do to save it? Its thick and looks almost like insulation.
I know my description is very vague hehe sorry, still learning the new plants here in the warmer climate...altho I love it! Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Jeanne