Looking for info on Attalea colenda

[galveston1602]

So I was out looking at palm porn (my Wifes words not mine)

and came across RPS having these seeds for sale. WOW what a beauty!

Anyone ever seen one, have any pictures of it? any info at all would be great as im seriously considering starting some of these so my children have some wildly different palms, of course something tells me from its description being "coastal ecuador" that it will have absolutely 0 cold hardiness. I think id still like to try it but sheesh, youd have thought this palm had never been seen as google has never heard of it

The rps pic for reference!

[galveston1602]

Yikes, no ones ever seen this one or even heard of it, thats a bummer!

[galveston1602]

has anyone ever even seen this palm?

[Walter John]

has anyone ever even seen this palm?

no mate sorry, but it looks dandy.

[Palm Guy]

Allen,

Not much info out there on this palm. All I know is that it is one of the largest in the genus (to about 100FT counting leaves 120ft).

I too was interested and I nearly bought them but I would imagine that the young plants have HUGE leaves and I'm currently running out of space in my yard. It does survive in subtropical areas...so it will have some cold hardiness. It would also have some drought tolerance as they grow in both humid and dry conditions.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/l30237m8v52u53u4/

See below:

Abstract Attalea colenda is a monoecious palm found in pastures in coastal Ecuador. In dry regions, it is a valuable source of oil in self-sufficiency farming or in combination with cattle in pastures. The palm was studied over a gradient of dry to humid environments during two fruiting seasons. Palm growth, production of leaves, inflorescences, and infructescences, number of fruits per infructescence, and seed weight of five populations were evaluated. The individual of average size is 15 m tall, which corresponds to approximately 30–40 years of age. No difference in fruit production was recorded between wet and dry regions of coastal Ecuador. The average production of one hectare of pasture, with 50 palms, was 0.9 t of oil per year. One population that was part of an agroforestry system produced 50% more fruits than the average of all populations in pasture.

Cheers,

Mike

[Palm Guy]

Another great site with information.

http://www.palmbase.org/FMPro?-DB=SciNames...D=178&-Find

Check out the pic...

[John in Andalucia]

I was really taken with the description of this palm, and hearing that it grows on dry coastal plains, I couldn't resist buying 100 of these seeds from RPS.

[galveston1602]

Wow, its done, I think im in for 100 as well!

[John in Andalucia]

Wow, its done, I think im in for 100 as well!

Allen,

I'll start a topic when mine germinate, with some photos, naturally. The seeds are about the size of Carpoxylon macrospermum. Best of luck with yours, when you get them.

[galveston1602]

Dry coastal plain in ecuador obviously means warm-hot. somehow I suspect this is going to be a warm natured palm but im going to give it a try.

John,

Looking forward to the pics!

[Trópico]

Any additional info or updates? I just received my 10 Attalea colenda seeds from my most recent inseedious relapse and I'm super thrilled to start the journey. They look like cute little coconuts. Whoever germinated them please post any progress and lessons learned, please.

[Trópico]

6 germinated out of 10

Germination took just a few hours after exposing the embryo with the aid of a pin head.

Even before seeing a first leaf I had to repot 4 of them. They send a jolly old good sinker towards the drainage holes (even the larger pots!). Still waiting for the first leaf to emerge.......

[Zayin]

i ordered 100 about three months ago. Toby sent about 120, I tried to germinate them the baggie method. So far I have about 75 or more that have already germinated. One is starting to put out top growth already. I recommend that you get them quickly, as they appear to be really fresh seed.

[Mark Heath]

6 germinated out of 10

Germination took just a few hours after exposing the embryo with the aid of a pin head.

Even before seeing a first leaf I had to repot 4 of them. They send a jolly old good sinker towards the drainage holes (even the larger pots!). Still waiting for the first leaf to emerge.......

Hello Neighbor!

Please keep us updated w/ the progress of your seedlings. Usually any palm from Ecuador dies w/ our hummidity, but

let's hope this one thrives here!

[edric]

Try this, http://www.springerlink.com/content/l30237m8v52u53u4/ Ed

[Kai]

I got my seeds from rps some weeks ago. 3 out of 10 germinated in the enveloppe and 3 more a few days later. So germinating these seeds won't be the problelm I guess...

Actually the seeds look more like large Syagrus seeds then Attalea seeds to me, but I guess that's my mistake then...

Cheers!

[Trópico]

Update!

[cfkingfish]

All I can say is this is going to be a really cool, tropical looking Attalea. My instinct from looking at the seed leaves me to that conclusion.

[trioderob]

updates - what happened ???????

[NApalm]

Nice bump

[Trópico]

They are going to be MONSTERS, all I can say. One is in the ground, the rest are trying to go pinnate.

[Eric in Orlando]

We have a couple in the ground here. Slow growers but nuce dark green foliage. It is still undivided juvenile leaves, about 2ft tall. After the 2010-11 winter, they suffered some minor burn. They seem slightly less hardy than the "hardier" Attalea like A. cohune and A. phalerata.

[sydneypalms]

mine are germinating in harsh west sydney, have had my eye on this bloody beauty for a long time., now i got the guts to grow it, just cant pick what spot to put it in, ile wait n see what its growth habit wil be like. yeehaa. i think this is one of the most Palmiest palmtrees ever, with its lyrebird tail feather leaf, i dont know if this is the ultimate or the coconut for me now. not that i have any more room, but couldnt help it, im palmed-out !!!

[Josh-O]

I bought 100 seeds off Toby 2 years ago and had zero sprouted. very frustrating to say the least. I did some in bags, some in community post with bottom heat, some with out bottom heat, ETC I think the seed I got could have been bad??? I plan on trying again some day soon.

[akamu]

Any pics of your juvenile 2ft tall attalea colenda They are a remarkable looking palm cheers

[Al in Kona]

I've got 2- small plants in 3-gal. size containers and now after seeing photos of A. colenda and seeing how beautiful it is I'm gonna try find a nice spot in the garden and get it planted soon.

[Josh-O]

That's it, I'm moving to Hawaii!!

[Zeeth]

Here's 5.5 years of growth from mine. It seems somewhat slow, but I'm not sure what to expect from an Attalea. (In the first picture it's the 2 leaf palm in the large pot on the bottom shelf).

 

 

 

 

[Rory]

Yours is looking nice Keith. Attalea's can be kind of slow to start in my experience but once they get up to around the size yours is they aren't too bad. How long has yours been in the ground? My experience is that once planted they usually spend a year or two not doing a whole lot above ground, although my guess is that they're developing serious root systems, and then by the second year they really explode with each new leaf being much bigger than the last.

Here's mine which was planted just about two years ago from about the size yours is now. This summer it started pushing some bigger leaves finally, the biggest is right around 8ft long. The area's a little crowded so the pictures aren't the greatest by the way.

[Zeeth]

Thanks for the tips! I planted mine at the beginning of spring this year, so it's right at the end of it's first growing season in the ground. Yours looks great! It's definitely starting to get the Attalea look to it. 

[www.dadluvsu.com]

On 11/16/2014 at 7:58 PM, Al in Kona said:

I've got 2- small plants in 3-gal. size containers and now after seeing photos of A. colenda and seeing how beautiful it is I'm gonna try find a nice spot in the garden and get it planted soon.

Just ran across this...  how cool.

 

anyone have any updates on the colendas?  Zeeth, mine looks like yours did in that last pic, how’s it doin now?

[Zeeth]

On 7/16/2021 at 1:59 AM, www.dadluvsu.com said:

Just ran across this...  how cool.

 

anyone have any updates on the colendas?  Zeeth, mine looks like yours did in that last pic, how’s it doin now?

Here’s how it looks today