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As you are aware of this is the colouration of the southern population of bangalows. Iam leaning on purperea that was my first thought. And as discussed with you iam sure if it was a different species they would be onto it. Keep looking you just never know what you will find. Trucking around the country side, be calling you the Leyland brothers next or is that Malcom Douglas.

Start tracking it down and have a good look, they are a bit cool tender. You need that right microclimate for them and good soil and moisture but once established they are a beautiful palm. Here’s a nice example of a Normanbya, one in a subtropical climate near the coast not far from me.

Very interesting and beautiful palms, thanks for sharing. Mt Dalrymple is close to Eungella which is known as the northernmost population of A. cunninghamiana. Bangalows also would be more likely to have this coloration than alexandrae, I think. I wonder if they might be hybrids. I would love to see more in depth study of the genus, clearly there is a lot of variability within especially A. cunninghamiana.

Lucky Hawaii growers! Plant that cabbadae before winter gets your way! Richard

Normanbya is a beautiful palm, iam getting a few more seeds next month I like them that much, but definitely a humid climate with good rainfall palm to look there best.

Their native habitat is up north in cyclone country, so no wonder they stand up to hurricanes!

That’s one way of explaining it I guess. I dread the day my ones start seeding, might just cut the flower of I think. They are a winner for a lot of reasons!

I was looking at some rainforest in north qld the other day and spotted these palms. Lots of purple on these ones.

I’m sorry I probably didn’t word it right. I don’t doubt that the palm you posted in Pauleen Sullivans garden is correctly labeled and really is Archontophoenix purpurea. What I meant was the palm I posted up can’t be Archontophoenix purpurea because it’s 900km south of the Mt Lewis area. The purple palm I posted has no white under the leaflets, or whiskers under the mid rib. All Archontophoenix purpurea are white underneath and have those whiskers. Seed size is vastly different between the two as well as first leaf size of seedlings. Archontophoenix purpurea has large bifid leaves for ages. These ones are small from the beginning.

Any updates on the seedlings? I am working with another PT member who has a dozen (or more) mature Jubaea x butia of Patric's that are producing fertile seeds. Saw low germination numbers the first round, have about 450 seed collected and cleaned about to go into germination beds with this second round. Small seed is standard Butia odorata seed.

Yes you will see Normanbya a bit, more up north than in my subtropical climate. Some resorts have them, whoever the landscaper was some years ago doing contracts must have known there stuff and was getting palms from up north near cairns. In my area you have to know what you’re looking at but they are around.

I’m pretty sure that the Sullivans had this palm labeled correctly . Only one is Archontophoenix and the fronds and crown shaft are not visible in the photo . The fronds that are visible are not Archontophoenix but something else. The collection was started sometime in the 1950’s Pauline and her husband have both passed on but the son and , now grandson , are maintaining the properties that have the collections . The rotted fruit could be from something else , there are a lot of palms there and I’m not sure the Archie is fruiting , it is very old and super tall. It isn’t as tall as the Ceroxilyn but close! Unfortunately I couldn’t get a pic of the fronds or the Purple Crown , the trunk seems to disappear into the sky! Small city lot with lots of mature palms. I have Purple crown Archontophoenix juveniles from my friends palm and yes they have silver undersides like Maxima and Alexandrae . Harry

So you were weaned on fosters. Just look at some of the beer in Belgium, unobtainable in Australia. One of the reasons is our alcohol content law is way below what the average Belgium beer is. But not many drink fosters in Australia.

Here’s big Jubutea — yowza no point in the Shoe. It’s about 25-30 feet overall with about 7-8 feet of trunk.

This can’t be Archontophoenix purpurea, what was called Archontophoenix sp Mt Lewis. Archontophoenix purpurea is white under the leaves with those little whiskers under the middle vein. These palms have neither. This area is around 900km (540 miles) further south than Mt Lewis. It’s Mt Dalrymple at about 1000m altitude. Archontophoenix purpurea has large fruit. These guys have small fruit like alexandrae. Lots of rotten seed on the ground. It’s a bit early for ripe fruit on these. Lots of pink flowers and immature fruit.

Those are fine examples! Didn’t folks used to refer to this palm as Mt. Lewis or something? The Sullivans here have a beauty , unfortunately too tall to see the crownshaft. Harry This has been there a super long time. I believe the palm on the left is the Archontophoenix. The garden is very old. Not sure what the large one on the right is. These were taken a while ago when I was gathering seeds.

Not to mention hurricane force winds ! Last year we had too many Santa Ana events. It seemed like every week they were howling . I live on a south facing hill and I’ve had 90mph winds before up here. Keeping the gardens safe is a chore. Every gust I hear at night gives me pause. The palms get shredded sometimes if not burned to a crisp. Harry

It looks like Lala will deliver some heavy rain and wind to our friends on the Big Island and at this moment there is still disussion of it making landfall on the Big Island. Here is hoping it skirts you and no damage from wind and/or rain.

5 percent humidity omg, that would be like living in an oven in those temperatures. No wonder they don’t live, the only relief from that sort of heat is sitting in the river!

Another one

Wodyetia is so popular here because it actually grows well enough here to look good, is plumose pinnate crown shafted and is self cleaning. It has taken the queen palm’s place. Queen palm’s die from disease here. So do most Phoenix species. In my very marginal 9B/10A humid subtropical climate, Wodyetia does better than most other crown shafted alternatives. Yes, Roystonea is very close to being native here and does great too and I do have one and only ONE because one dropped frond cut up more than fills a standard sized trash bin. Roystonea is a much, much larger palm than Wodyetia. Wodyetia is actually more frond hardy in a freeze/frost than Roystonea but Roystonea wins the ultimate cold temp death match. All palms have pros and cons. I’ve come to realize that maintenance is huge as palms mature. Wodyetia seeds like a beast in my yard. Cool at first, but those seeds are like golf balls and weigh a ton… So why are they so popular? Beautiful, cheap, hardy and mostly easy to maintain. What’s not to like?

The seedlings from these plants lacked any white under the leaves or the little whiskers on the midrib that cunninghamiana has. Any thoughts.

You have nailed it. We grow a Wodyetia here because we can not grow a Normanbya, latter dies fast due to the lack of needed air moisture during summer.

He is likely the source of the seeds for your Waggie x Princeps. I have one as well and the seeds came from him orignally. He's doing a lot of work hybridizing and most people in the UK have palms from his efforts.

Yeah, comparing the two pictures, the fronds do show some differences. Here's a picture of my still juvenile parajubaea torallyi as well...

That's the same seller I bought my Jubaea hybrid from. I've contemplated purchasing one just to see. I've been to Tallahassee a few times but never had time enough to visit their nursery. Was trying to compare that picture to the picture of the queen in my yard. Hard to tell, definitely has a very robust trunk. Really hoping to see my Parajubaea torallyi flower some day so I can have some fresh pollen to work with. Anyway, here's my big queen, ten years from seed. I tried to capture the same perspective for comparison of the pic above.

My Rhapidophylum is just settling in . It is still quite young yet. It’s been in the ground about a year , I’ll have to go down the hill to check on it . Reading this thread on how hard they can be to germinate gives a whole new appreciation for these palms. Harry South facing slope , full sun . This was several weeks ago when I was down there weeding. So far , gophers aren’t interested.

Another bp x pjc

Brahea edulis, or the Guadalupe palm, is a slow-growing, hardy palm native to Mexico's Guadalupe Island, known for its large, fan-shaped, green leaves and edible black fruit. It's highly tolerant of drought, wind, and poor soils, making it a popular ornamental plant in warm climates, though it's considered rare in the wild due to habitat threats like feral goats. This self-cleaning palm grows to about 30-45 feet tall and is suitable for full sun and well-drained soil.

A natural JxS hybrid I grew from seed. Grows about 4 times as fast as its standard Jubaea brethren. I had 2 of these hybrids come up from a batch of seeds I collected from the 1 blue Jubaea at mission beach. Gotta love it's very upright growth pattern when planted in close quarters.🌴 aztropic Mesa, Arizona

Bp x pjc hitting its stride.

Yes, mine did. I've got two F2 babies coming along.