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I spoke with the person in charge of the French Guiana Botanical Garden in South America, at the Palmetum de Guiana. They explained that they have two Tahina spectabilis palms, one in the Palmetum garden and another in a private garden in Cayenne. In total, there are three Tahina palms in French Guiana. They also explained that they obtained the seeds from RPS Germany in 2008, and that many palm trees originated from those seeds. Those in Thailand also originated from the 2008 RPS sale. They also mentioned that there is a Tahina spectabilis in Venezuela. These are probably the only palm trees in South America. In our conversation, they also noted that there are Tahina palms in Martinique and Guadeloupe. With all this information, it is very likely that it could flower in the French Guiana garden in 2038, if it flowers within the minimum 30 years required for this highly sought-after palm. Below is a photo of the Tahina plant. Its trunk is thinner, which will likely accelerate its flowering. Hugo Aravena Chile

Update on this guy. It’s now spit into two trunks. Still lots of color. If officially named it “dypsis sp. quaman” until I get a better ID.

Hey y’all, I had a question. I’ve had this palm for probably 12 years. A great grower, looks good all the time, almost no burned leaves ever. A few years ago, it began flowering. A little sporadically at first, but now it’s to the point where every leaf base has a flower spathe underneath. The upshot is that it flowers like crazy, millions of little flowers falling, all throughout the year. But absolutely no fruit has ever developed. Any thoughts is what might be causing this? It just looks and grows so dang good in every other way, it’s hard to believe that it’s missing nutrients. Thanks in advance!

A great chamaedorea variety to have this one, right at home on jungle floor in the understory of the garden. If you create the palms habitat in the garden they certainly reward you for that microclimate, and thus chamaedorea is right at home!

Hello everyone, My name is Sebastián Vieira, and I’m writing from Colombia. I’m a naturalist and currently the Executive Director of Salvamontes Colombia, a non-profit organization focused on the conservation and restoration of threatened species and their habitats, mainly through the creation and long-term care of private natural reserves. Although I didn’t come to conservation through a formal biology track ( I originally studied and worked as an engineer and spent many years working in telecommunications ), my interest in plants and the natural world has been with me for as long as I can remember. Over time, that curiosity slowly turned into field work, conservation projects, nature photography, and taxonomic research, especially on Pleurothallid orchids. It was that long, hands-on relationship with nature that lead me to be a co-founder of Salvamontes, and nowadays, its leader. Andy Hurwitz invited to come and participate in PalmTalk, and share with everyone here our amazing story, so it’s really nice to finally introduce SalvaMontes and our work here, especially thanks to the invitation from the International Palm Society, whose support has been fundamental for one of the projects I care most deeply about. That project is the Sabinaria Natural Reserve, located in the Darién region of northwestern Colombia, close to the border with Panama. This is an incredibly rich rainforest area, still poorly studied, and it happens to be the only place on Earth where the striking palm Sabinaria magnifica is found. A few years ago, while visiting the area, it became clear that much of the known habitat of Sabinaria magnifica was privately owned and increasingly exposed to deforestation and land-use change. Given how limited the species’ distribution is, it doesn’t take much habitat loss to create serious long-term risks. With that in mind and with crucial support from the International Palm Society, we were able to acquire and legally protect 50 hectares of tropical rainforest, securing what we believe is a meaningful portion of the global habitat and population of Sabinaria magnifica. Today, that forest is permanently protected as a private natural reserve. What makes this especially rewarding is that Sabinaria magnifica also works as an umbrella species. By protecting its habitat, we’re also conserving many other threatened organisms that depend on the same intact forest. This includes species like the critically endangered harlequin frog Atelopus fronterizo and the rare tree Magnolia sambuensis, along with many other plants and animals that are still little known. For us, Sabinaria is much more than a single-species project. It reflects a broader way of doing conservation: protecting habitat first, learning directly from the field, working with local communities, and committing to long-term stewardship rather than short-term interventions. I’m really glad to be here and look forward to learning from all of you, sharing updates from the field, and exchanging ideas about palms and their conservation around the world. I am also sharing some images showing the Sabinaria palm and its natural habitat. Finally, it is very important to thank and recognize the important support and participation of biologists Norman Echavarría, Norberto López, Saul Hoyos, Gloria Galeano and Rodrigo Bernal. Without them this project would not be a reality. PS: I will come back soon with additional information and images. Warm regards from Colombia, Sebastián Salvamontes Colombia

Dave, I’ve always been a “plant them even when they’re tiny” kind of guy. Many of my big honking palms were planted as 2 or 3 inch seedlings directly to the ground. Here are just a few of them…

H rheophytica and Bismarkia today

Here’s my smallest one just slowly truckin along. Planted as a 1G about 4 yrs ago. Definitely getting more size in the trunk area. Hopefully it’s past the slow infant stage these things experience. -dale

Chrysalidocarpus robustus. Monster!

An interesting and beautiful ecological interaction that we were able to observe during our last visit to the reserve, was this group of Pygmy fruit eating bats (Artibeus phaeotis), modifying and using a leaf of Sabinaria magnifica as their daytime roost. Sabinaria is possibly an important resource for this bat species in the area.

15 gallon Brahea Edulis 125.00 15 gallon Brahea Super Silver 125.00 1 gallon Butia Eriospatha 60.00 can ship 3 gallon Chamaedoria Costaricana 60.00 3 gallon Chamaedoria Hooperiana 60.00 3 gallon Chamaerops Humilis Cerifera 75.00 can ship

Dale it's seeding like crazy 🤪 now could be in the hundreds if they all stay on the 2 large inflorescence

Encephalartos Trispinosis 2-Leaf flush. Super cool how it starts yellowish / pink, then turns purple and finally blue when it gets its farina or sunscreen. -dale

I got mine from Bret too. It didn't look too interesting until it got bigger so I had kind of ignored it. Also, when I planted it, I somehow forgot to put a ripper on it so it had no water for a year or two and didn't grow. Doing good now, one of my favorites.

Enceph. Blue Arenarius flushing 7 leaves. This plant is as consistent as my green version. It always looks good too. I love the aqua color of Blue Arenarius. Super underrated. That being said, I tried True Blue and it didn’t go well. 👎🏻 (Stupid Lutescens won’t stop multiplying. It’s moving in on the Arenarius real estate 🤬) -dale

It’s a great palm and so easy to grow from seed. Your little ones would be from my group of 4 (3 males, 1 female) which pumps out about 300-400 seeds a year now. Germination is close to 100% when I’ve tried although I gifted all of the seed set this year.

Well, here are a few photos…..only took me three years to post. It certainly didn’t turn out to be the ‘weeping’ form, but nice nevertheless. Huge inflorescence for such a small palm. Tim

Bump...updated photos of #1 and #2 palms. I have a palm acquired from Phil at Jungle Music about a dozen years ago that was labeled as Pritchardia beccariana. I think it most resembles your #2 palm Matty. It has flat, large round leaves with many shallow pleats compared to the deeper pleats on most other Pritchardia I have growing. Steve please share a photo or two of yours as well.

This is a Specimen acquired as possibly a Pritchardia hillebrandii. As it grew I don't think that was fulfilled. I don't have Don Hodel's book on Pritchardia to key this out. Given the prevalence of hybrid Pritchardia in the trade here in California, I might not be able to key it to a single species anyway. I don't recall it ever pushing out a successful inflorescence that resulted in flowers let alone fruit. Thoughts on it's id are welcome.

Just snapped these pics just now. Seeding for the first time. Definitely faster in sun than shade. She gets sun all day now.

Latania loddigesii at Four Arts:

Iam sure I have a bit colour in the garden somewhere!

🙂

Whoa Steve, that's way bigger than mine.. nice job. Mine's split as well & still has a lot of red fur on it. I'm going to repeat what I mentioned in an earlier thread here. The seeds came from the garden of Bill Austin when we visited in 2017. He was giving us a great tour & we stopped by what I recalled was a nice clumping palm, possibly Dypsis psammophila or something like it. Bill reaches down on the ground & scoops up a handful of seeds and says "Here, take these with you". As they grew, they looked nothing like the palm I remembered, so I thought I must have a mistaken memory. A couple months back I noticed that Seabreeze nursery was offering a new hybrid that they were calling the a "Sandy bear"; psammophila x leptichielos (or visa versa). A dead ringer, with one possible caveat: I don't remember any leptichielos in Bill's garden, although I could be wrong. But he did have several beautiful lastalliana growing nearby, that really caught my attention. Anyway, there's the story.. In the meantime, Dypsis sp. "Quaman" has a nice ring to it. 😁

Here’s a unique Encephalartos Horridus I got from @Sr. Califas but a Kevin plant marked “Special”. I called Kevin and he said this particular plant was germinated using noticeably unique parents that possess great color and different shape structure. I’m all for rare. Pictures don’t really do it justice as the emerging frond is even more purple than it looks. Looks to be a few more emerging behind the leader as well. -dale

A couple of common Brahea down on my hill. Harry Mr. Elephant , Brahea Edulis This Brahea Armata is about 3-4 years younger than the Edulis . A much slower growing palm.

This is an elegant and somewhat overlooked palm. Took a few shots around the hood:

Even before we opened at 9am, the garden was buzzing with activity. (9 photos) When we finally opened, some familiar faces showed up to fill their wagons with new plants. Dr. Rossi leads the Tour de Freeze, showcasing the palms that performed best and worst during the cold outbreak that dropped the garden to 21.5F. You can't say the Central Florida folks aren't adventurous, with Rhopalostylus planted. The baureri didn't handle the event as well as cheesemanii. A special thanks to @Jeff Searle, @Fishinsteeg234, @howfam, @STLOUISPALMGUY, @CodyM, Clay Porch and Steve Farnsworth for an excellent selection at the sale. Also a special thanks to @PalmJuan, @ChristianStAug, @RiverCityRichard, @flplantguy, @Jblume, @Kekoanui, and all of our new and current members for making the event a success.

Chambeyronia hookeri

I have Ceroxylon alpinum, quindiuence, and amazonicum doing well for years. No trunks yet but hopefully soon.

Tracy, yours looks 100% like beccariana to me. Great looking palm..

The base and crown of mine. The crown has a diameter at least 4 meters; it’s a big boy!

sometimes it helps to climb up there and sniff the flowers. If they smell like Cheetos and Pepsi then that might be the problem. Please let us know what you discover.

Ptychosperma schefferi

A few more seeds of a few interesting varieties. Starting to get into a few cycas species they always are winner for any palm grower, just set and forget and wait while the palms grow, a great sideline plant cycas!

Bismarckia

This plant was acquired as an Encephalartos arenarius blue form hybrid. The male cones look like horridus cones in color. Right now it is pushing flushes on the main caudex plus two pups, one of which is a new pup. It's largest pup was my last Encephalartos flush of the 2025 autumn season, so it is probably building energy still.

Latania new frond beauty

Chamaerops humilis var. argentea opening a new frond

Linospadix minor and Chuniophoenix nana in the background!

Maybe Cyphosperma balansae? Kind of looks like mine at a similar size, and possibly someone misheard and translated text wrong (I could imagine Cyphosperma balansae sounding a bit like Ptychosperma baliese which doesn’t exist 🤣).

I'm gonna open with this meme. Anyway as always price is OBO, white monstera. Yes it was sold by Costa but it's been confirmed they did not grow them, it's from the Kunzo lineage also confirmed by them. Not an albo or creme Brule or Thai con. Rehabbed and is now pushing out of a 1g pot. I've got it listed elsewhere for more optimistic prices, these were sold in March and didn't last long. $75 obo for y'all plus the ride.

Copernicia bailyana at Ann Norton: