Multi-trunked palm ID needed

[fastfeat]

Saw this yesterday in a Coral Gables traffic median. I was thinking some sort of Ptychosperma or possibly a Chamaedorea? Multi-trunked, but no new shoots arising from the base.

Thanks in advance.

[cobra2326]

Looks like Ptychosperma macarthurii.  The only thing that throws me off is the slightly pendant leaflets.

[fastfeat]

Thanks Jon. I was thinking some sort of Ptychosperma, but I was wondering about the size, angle of the leaves as being typical of P. macarthurii as well.

[spockvr6]

(cobra2326 @ Mar. 15 2008,10:30)

QUOTE

Looks like Ptychosperma macarthurii.  The only thing that throws me off is the slightly pendant leaflets.

Yes....my P. macarthurii do bear a strong resemblance to those, but there is something about those leaves that just seems a bit different.....

[osideterry]

The leaves look sorta Foxy-Ladyish to me.

Is a Veitchia, Wodyetia, or Adonidia cross with Ptychosperma remotely possible?

[paulgila]

i see a nice bizzie in the background on the left in that 1st shot.

the clumpy palm looks like ptychosperma to me for what its worth.any seed on it?

[fastfeat]

No seed (yet). There are quite a few clumping Ptychos (I think the majority are clumpers), but I don't know the defining characteristics of them.

Not a Veitchia or foxy lady--stems are too thin, blooms are at about 6'/2m off the ground.

These are relatively new plantings in traffic circles in the City, maybe 5 years or so?

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

What I see is Ptycosperma mac, but in the back ground

I can see P. elegans, You should put some of the newly

set seeds (on the P.mac) once there ripe) you'll get some

interesting Hybrids out of the Clumper for sure.

Cheers Mikey.

[fastfeat]

Thanks Mikey and everyone else.

P. elegans is the most common palm in the area, so hybrids would be quite likely if they hybridize readily. I'll look for seeds on others in the area.

[Moose]

These "traffic circles" were installed by the City of Coral Gables because people kept blowing through stop signs and exceeding the 30 mile per hour speed limit during rush hour.

The palms were added (good idea) to pretty them up.

Dan Keyes, is in charge of plant acquisitions for the City. He is a long time IPS member and former long time board member of the South Florida Palm Society and past President. You can find Dan at The Fall and Spring sales down here, usually pulling a cart full of palms for his garden. A real good guy and palm lover. He could identify which palms were selected for the traffic circles.

You see the palmaholics are every where!

Ron.