Huge Palm, Cycad & Tropical Plant Sale

[Phil]

Random Photos Continued:

And finally a few more. First, some random one gallon palms:

A Mexican species of cycad, Dioon mejiae, with its erect leaves:

Windows on the Beccariophoenix:

Just a lot of plants:

I thought this "random" thing would be a lot quicker. It wasn't.

Thanks for looking.

Phil.

[Shon]

Phil you said utilis tops out at 40 ft? Is that in habitat and in optimum conditions? What do you think it tops out at in So Cal? Also can you get Sean to smile in any photos?

[Phil]

Sean,

I have no idea how big they'll get here. If you wait long enough and treat them right, perhaps they'll reach that height. But, until a few decades pass, we won't know for sure. Some species get taller here, others don't reach their potential. Caryota gigas is one that should be getting up to 50 or 60 feet, but it doesn't appear that it will.

Re smiley Sean, I'll mention it to him. Below I think Jesse and Danny are grinning; or they just swalled a canary:

Hey, wait! Here's two more grinners:

Phil

[Phil]

Group,

Good morning. I had a busy day in the ER yesterday. So I didn't get to post anything. These economic times have certainly impacted hospital emergency rooms and made them quite stessful; I think both for patients and for the staff.

So now I come back to this very long thread. You know, when I return here I am never quite sure what I am going to write about. I had planned on commenting about some more Chamaedoreas. Instead, I changed my mind and thought I'd pose a little game for you.

Who can identify the plants below? Are they a Cycas species? Encephalartos? Take a look.

How about this one. It's sort of behind a tree and in a bit of shade.

Perhaps you're thinking: are the petioles armed, do I see a cone, are the leaflets spiney? etc. etc.

Read a bit more on the next post.

Phil

[palmislandRandy]

Now I don't think my plumosa is a plumosa???? Thanks again for the edgemacation professor Phil, it's priceless!

[Phil]

Continued:

Well, this is a convoluted way of introducing a new palm genus. When Paul Craft wrote in his book Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms that Phytelephas "somewhat resemble gigantic tropical cycads", I wondered whether this is true. I looked at a few of my website's photos and thought, "I see what he means". So, I posted these two previous photos to test the point. They are not cycads at all, but rather a palm named Phytelephas, a genus of palms from South America. Did anyone take the bait? Perhaps this species is perfect for the fellow that sort of likes cycads but "is really just a palm guy".

Phytelephas is one of the vegetable ivory palm species. In habitat, they are known as "Tagua Palm" or Ivory or Ivory-Nut Palms. The seeds have a hard outer shell. When removed, the inner fruit of this genus have white, hard endosperm and are quite large. The dried fruit has been used for carving various things including art pieces, beads, jewelry, buttons, etc. The derivation of the name refers to "elephant", once again a reference to ivory, which an elephant has.

If you are not too familiar with this genus, it is because they are not common in botanical gardens and seldom offered at nurseries. Phytelephas are all South American pinnate-type palms. They are dioecious (need male and female plants to make seeds). There are six species. They typically have long leaves. Below is a picture from the Fairchild Tropical Garden website of Phytelephas macrocarpa, a species from western Brasil and eastern Peru:

Phytelephas have quite different appearing male and female blossoms. Below is a picture from Fairchild Tropical Garden's website (excellent section on Phytelephas) which demonstrates the pendulous male blossom which can even lay on the ground because the trunk is quite short:

The female blossom looks entirely different and is deep inside the crown of leaves. Below is a closeup of the leaf of Phytelephas macrocarpa from Fairchild's site:

The picture below is from the last post of the same species and resembles a cycad. But, now that you know this genus, you'll be able to tell that it's a phytelephas. When they get large, it's easy to see that they are a palm. But, when smaller like this one, it could possibly fool you:

Phytelephas continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Phytelephas continued:

As I mentioned previously, there are six species. In keeping with the theme of this thread, below is a picture of another species, Phytelephas aequatorialis, in a 5g pot at our nursery. This species is from western Equador and even grows to elevations of more than 4000 feet. This latter fact is something that interested me because of potential cold hardiness. Think about it: a species from near the Equator which could possibly grow in Southern California. The plant below is in the greenhouse and has seen about 35 degrees for several winters. It's height is about 3 feet.

Phytelephas aequatorialis in a 5g pot:

Here's a closeup of the leaf of the Phytelephas aequatorialis above:

Phytelephas aequatorialis is single trunked and the tallest of the species of this genus. It makes leaves of 25 foot length on trunks one foot in diameter that get up to 40 feet or more.

And here's a large plant from the Fairchild Tropical Garden's website:

And below is a Fairchild B.G. website photo of the back of the leaf of Phytelephas aequatorialis:

Phytelephas continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Phytelephas continued:

Below is a repeat photo of the trickster plant in the first post of this section. It is Phytelephas seemannii, another tall (see below) specimen from Panama and extending into Columbia.

On page 409 in Paul Craft's book, he describes an interesting thing about this species. It's crown caries many long heavy leaves. This crown mass and weight causes the crown to bend down toward the ground where the upper stem then "re-roots" into the ground. Then the "new" trunk grows vertical again. It can go through multiple cycles like this with the old trunk becoming decumbent and rerooting and then making a new vertical trunk. Paul conjectures that perhaps this species has the ability to be "immortal" because of this tendency. And, for those of you who remember Toolital Toowaco, perhaps this is the best example of the sought after "Walking Palm" as Phytelephas seemannii can change it's position in the forest and "walk away".

Below is a picture from the PACSOA website of another species, Phytelephas macrocarpa, from the Western Amazon region:

Regarding cultivation of Phytelephas, very little data is available. My suspicion is that they would not tolerate a freeze and need ample water with good drainage. There is very limited information on this genus on the Internet.

Here's a photo of a juvenile specimen of an unknown species of Phytelephas in a botanical garden:

And below is a picture of the female seed cluster of Phytelephas macocarpa from an excellent website, fieldmuseum.org. This is a cluster of three different seeds. Note the horny, hard outer shell of the seeds of this species:

It is inside these protective outer shells of the fruit that you'll find the sought-after ivory nut.

I hope you had some fun with this genus. Thanks for reading. Feedback always appreciated.

Phil

[BS Man about Palms]

I have one of that genus Phil. Possibly from the same source you got yours. It sits in my greenhouse and just barely stays green enough to know its alive, I have no idea what makes it happy yet.

[cagary]

Phil,

Your website lists three Phytelephas species, P. aequatorialis, P. microcarpa, and P. seemanii.

Do you still have all three at your nursery?

Thanks!

[Phil]

Cagary,

No, we only have the one species. And, it's unusual to even find that one species offered in these parts. But, from time to time, we do get the others.

Phil

[Phil]

Good morning Group,

Before we leave Phytelephas, with their long erect leaves, I would like for you to review what you've learned. Can you name the species below?

(photo from website conifers.og)

Without jumping to the next post, study these photos with the information from the previous posts. See what you come up with.

Continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Continued:

Did you get them right? I guess you wouldn't know because I haven't confirmed what they are. The bottom one, of course, is Phytelephas seemannii (previously shown). But, the first two are not a Phytelephas. In fact, they are not even palms. Remember how I told you that Paul Craft said Phytelephas look like giant tropical cycads. Now you see that he has made his point.

The first two photos from the last post are a very rare Central African cycad: Encephalartos laurentianus.

Most cycad enthusiasts have the utmost admiration for this enormous cycad. From central West Africa (Angola and Zaire), this species is often referred to as having the longest leaves of any cycad. They are typically four to seven meters in length. This translates to a length of potential more than 20 feet; and they tend to be fairly erect. This makes for a very large plant. To grow this species, you have to give it plenty of room. Once I sold a 7g plant to an enthusiast and within a few years he reported the leaves were above his one story roof.

And the trunks are quite massive, getting to two feet in diameter. In the natural habitat, old specimens have decumbent trunks that can lay down or crawl on the ground before emerging vertically again. In his book on Cycads, Loran Whitelock reports of vertical trunk heights of 30 feet and decumbent specimens with trunks nearly 50 feet long. But, the most striking thing about this species is the length of its leaves and the volume of its crown of leaves.

There are not a lot of photographs of this extremely rare cycad available on the Internet. But, the PlantaPalm website has the best shots. The picture below is from their website and taken by Jose Zerolo, 2002; taken at Jardin de Aclimatación de La Orotava, Tenerife, Canary Islands.

From the same website is a photo of the cones, photos by Jose Manuel Sanchez de Lorenzo Cáceres:

In keeping with the theme of this thread, here's a picture of a 15g plant at our nursery of Encephalartos laurentianus. It's leaves go overhead a bit:

Below is a closeup of the leaflets of this species. But, remember that leaflets on cycads, especially Encephalartos can vary with the age of the plant and where on the leaf you are looking. On this photo, note the spiney terminal end of the leaflet, that it is very long, and has some marginal spines:

No other cycad leaf looks quite like this one. Encephalartos whitelockii and hildebrandtii might fake you out, but when you become familiar with E. laurentianus, you can spot it.

Encpehalartos laurentianus continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Encephalartos laurentianus continued:

Below is a less than optimal picture of more of the leaf of E. laurentianus, 15g size:

And here is a shot of the caudex of this same plant. You'll note with this plant and many juvenile Central African cycads that the caudex are often cream or whitish colored and that the leaves are almost "too big" for the size of the caudex. I've had E. whitelockii with six foot leaves and a three foot caudex. Also, note how the caudex is a bit wooly as well as light colored. Oppose this to a woody looking, more brown and scaley caudex. The former characteristics often help one identify that the cycad in front of them in a container is of Central African origin.

Base of the 15g Encephalartos laurentianus:

Do you notice the light color and how it's a bit wooly appearing? Now, this is only apparent on younger, typically containerized plants. In time it developes that huge trunk mentioned above. And, this trunk is scaley, brown and hard. The picture below is also from the PlantaPalm website, photo by Jose Zerolo, 2002; taken at Jardin de Aclimatación de La Orotava, Tenerife, Canary Islands. It shows the massive trunk:

Most growers would give this species a fair amount of sun. Full sun along the coast would probably work. But, if you are inland, protection might be needed. It is "central" African, so it is not as cold hardy as the more southern "south" African species. But, along the coast in these parts, many are growing this species. It needs good drainage and in my experience an average amount of water.

I hope you enjoyed comments/photos on this amazing and beautiful species of cycad. Below is the last picture from the PlantaPalm site by Jose Manuel Sanchez de Lorenzo Cáceres. It shows the beauty of this cycad:

Thanks for reading and thanks to the authors of the great photos above.

Phil

[Phil]

Good morning.

I was surprised that there was not one comment on Encephalartos laurentianus. About fifteen years ago people just dreamed of seeing the plant, let alone owning one. One leaf seedlings commanded a small fortune. It was grouped up there with latifrons, heenanii, and woodii. Its amazingly long leaves dwarf usual cycads below. But, this is a palm discussion group, so back to a palm species we go.

There is a Chamaedorea species that, like Encephalartos laurentianus, can get quite tall and is very tropical and beautiful. That species is Chamaedorea tepejilote. The pronunciation is "tep-eh-he-low-te". In California where the Spanish language is often spoken, we are use to the "j's" spoken as if they were "h's". Remember La Jolla, pronounced "la-ho-ya". This species has a tremendously long distrubution running from Columbia up to Mexico. It is most commonly seen as a tall, single trunk Chamaedorea with a prominently ringed, very dark green trunk. The crown is medium sized and typically far overhead. The leaflets are wide, somewhat dependen, and spaced. The flowers are a vibrant orange with black seeds when ripe.

Below is a group of three specimens at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. You can see the dark green trunk and the height of these plants. One plant is in flower. There is a Rhapis humilus to the right:

If you plant a male and a female C. tepejilote side by side, you are probably going to get seeds. The male blossoms when mature will release a huge cloud of pollen if briskly tapped. Wind dispersion of this pollen to a receptive female easily sets seeds. Below is a picture of a female C. tepejilote with an abundance of green seeds. These turn jet black with age. The black seeds with the orange brachts is quite attractive:

Chamaedorea tepejilote is a very tall Chamaedorea. It can get up to twenty feet tall. The leaves are about five feet long and the leaflets about 1/5 to 2 inches and drooping somewhat toward the ground. One of the most charming things about this species is the trunk. It is extremely dark colored and has prominent rings. The rings are brown colored. Trunks average about two inches, but can get up to even three inches in a lucky specimen. Below is a picture by Ian Edwards from PACSOA showing the beautiful trunk and the black seeds. Note the abundance of seeds:

Below is a picture looking up at a leaf to show the shape of the leaflets:

Chamaedorea tepejilote continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Chamaedorea tepejilote continued:

Below is a picture from ctfs.si.edu website that appears to be from habitat. You can see the shape and size of the open crown, the spacing of the leaflets, the tall trunk and the fact that this species is in shade:

Chamaedorea tepejilote is known as the Pacaya Palm. This word "Pacaya" will be seen used under various situations in Latin and South America and also for various species of palms. It is also used to describe the edible immature blossoms of the C. tepejilote which are harvested as a vegetable food. These female blossoms harvested in tropical countries get quite large before opening and are as big as a huge ear of corn. The "Pacaya" is then canned or containerized in jars and sold in the market.

Below is a picture of an immature blossom. As mentioned, these get quite large before opening and project straight up next to the trunk. They then open and the branched brachts cascade down:

For those who want to see more pictures of seeds, blossoms, etc., here's a Smithsonian link:

C. tepejilote blossoms and fruit

I am showing the following picture of the trunk of C. tepejilote to show trunk damage from improper removal of dead or near dead leaf bases. When removing these bases, you must never pull downward. You pull upwards. Otherwise you will strip some of the green bark of the trunk off and forever leave a scar on the trunk. Below, if you look closely, you will see such a scar:

There is a very similar species, Chamaedorea alternans, which some people feel is actually C. tepejilote. I have both in large size at our nursery and I can see definite difference is the petiole, trunk color, size of trunk, etc. But, for completeness sake, I'll show a photo from PACSOA by Colin Wilson (from this group) of C. alternans:

Chamaedorea tepejilote continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Chamaedorea tepejilote continued:

It is often said with tall Chamaedoreas that one should plant multiple plants side by side. This gives the overall appearance more character and volume. This picture from PACSOA is of a multiple planting:

But, what if there was a variety of this species that had multiple trunks? Well, there is. If you read above in my first description I said "most commonly seen as ....a single trunk". There are suckering forms of this species. I have a good sized one in my garden, but no photo at this moment. But, I did take some photos of single and suckering at the nursery. Unfortunately, a Web search failed to reveal one good photo of the suckering form.

Below is a 15g Chamaedorea tepejilote, 12 feet tall:

You will note no suckers at the base.

Below is a picture of the suckering C. tepejilote. It is about the same size as the plant above, but look at the base and you see a small sucker with two leaves:

Chamaedorea tepejilote continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Chamaedorea tepejilote continued:

There is a characteristic of this species that I look for when I try to identify C. tepejilote. This is that on the back side (when viewing, on your side) of the petiole there is a yellow stripe. This yellow stripe contrasts to the otherwise green petiole. It is not unique to this species, but C. tepejilote always have it. Yesterday I tried to take a picture to show this, but it's sort of hard to see, but follow the yellow down the petiole and you will see it contrasted to the adjecent green near the base:

Regarding culture, Chamaedorea tepejilote is a shade plant. It can take mild filtered light, but in my experience too much sun will burn it in our area. If you put it on the east side of a two story house, but it still gets 4 hours of sun, that is too much. Or, if it pierces up above your canopy into full sun, it will decline and slowly die. It also needs ample water and good drainage. It tolerates cold into the mid-twenties although is typically described as a species that doesn't tolerate a freeze too well. I invite others to post their experiences in growing this species. It is known to grow in the San Francisco area.

Thanks for reading and feedback appreciated.

Phil

[joe_OC]

I recently had seen the suckering form of Chamaedorea tepejilote (did not know there was a suckering variety until then). Very nice plant. I love how all the bamboo like trunks are so densely packed together.

[BS Man about Palms]

<---feedback.

[joe_OC]

You talkin to me...?YOU Talkin to me...? YOU TALKIN TO ME...?

Not all of us have the luxury of having the ultra rare collection like yours, Bill...

<---feedback.

[Phil]

Bill,

That made me laugh. I think that's exactly what Matt in Temecula does when he cruises PalmTalk. Me too. Funny.

Phil

[freakypalmguy]

Bill,

That made me laugh. I think that's exactly what Matt in Temecula does when he cruises PalmTalk. Me too. Funny.

Phil

That is funny Phil, you have me nailed. I usually wake up at about 4:30 to 5:30AM every morning, stumble to the kitchen, brew up a steamy cup of Java, sit down on the couch, fire up the laptop, and go straight to Palm Talk. It is one of my favorite times of the day. Wife and kids in bed, nothing but me and my palmography.

Matt

[southlatropical]

Phil,

Just wanted to chime in and say how much I appreciate and look foward to reading this thread. I would post if I had something to contribute, but I am very new to palms and cycads.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with growing cycads here in the Gulf Coast climate z9a. But any suggestions on which Encephalartos could do well here would be greatly appreciated. So far I have E. ferox and an E. natalensis is on the way.

I'm also a big fan of the Ceratozamias and really enjoyed the info posted a couple pages back.

[Gileno Machado]

Phil,

I hardly ever check the "For Sale" section of Palmtalk forum since it's very difficult to order plants from foreign sources here in Brazil. I guess I've seen this thread just when you were starting it, page one, sometime ago. Last night I decided to take another look and I was really delighted to see detailed information and pictures of several favorite palms and cycads, described with valuable growing tips from you, as an experienced grower. Stayed up until late, glued to the computer screen...

I want to thank you a lot for keeping this monumental thread updated and hopefully you can continue showing us all these nice gems from your nursery.

Best regards,

Gileno

[Phil]

Gileno and Isaac,

Thanks for the feedback. It is appreciated. After this thread's inception, I decided to change directions with it. With this economy, all of the nurseries need customers. But, I was bored with the concept of just slapping up a list of species or some pictures, giving prices, and say "come'n get um". And, I really dislike it when people hit the wrong button and you see the same photos over and over and over again with window upon window. I actually find this quite rude to the reader. Rather, I tried to turn it into an educational thread, each time with new photos and discussion. If sales spin off from it, great. I've been growing palms for over three decades. If I can share some knowledge and this information is well received, then my time doing it was worthwhile. That's why I appreciate feedback and I thank you for it. You will notice in this thread that I'm talking about genera or species that hardly anyone brings up for discussion. I must admit that I love Dypsis and probably grow more than almost any nursery. But, I don't want all the other fabulous palms in the world to be skipped over. I also try to weave in something different (if possible) with each new genus or species of plants. This thread is nearing its end. It will most likely resurrect some day in a different format or location. But, for now I'll continue on. Today I'm taking some more pictures and will post tomorrow. I think you'll enjoy it.

Phil.

[doubravsky]

Phil... say it ain't so! Don't end the thread! I just got checked into my hotel room in Yreka California... just south of Oregon. I gotta be here for three days training, and I brought my laptop just so I can check this thread!!!! It's snowing outside but at least I got my palm fix today!!! Thanks again!!!!

[Phil]

Good morning. I'm getting a bit of a late start today, but took some photos for you. We're going to continue the theme from the last plant post. That is: Larger, tall single trunk Chamaedorea. I'll be discussing several species.

I did want to show you a few more things about the suckering Chamaedorea tepejilote before we move on. The photo below shows the emergence of a sucker from the primary trunk of a suckering C. tepejilote. Note that this sucker appears above the ground at the trunk ring. On the plants we're growing right now of this suckering variety, all are doing this. This would be contrasted to a species that suckers below the ground level with an emerging sucker piercing up through the ground. Here's the photo:

the sucker is on the right. Notice the apparent "flower" coming at a little higher level from the left of the photo. I cannot say whether it is a flower or new sucker at this time.

Previously I mentioned the "yellow stripe" that you always see on the petiole of Chamaedorea tepejilote. It's on the dorsal side, the side you'd see most easily. Below is a picture of this same yellow stripe on a suckering Chamaedorea. I must warn you that this stripe is not unique to C. tepejilote. As you'll see in future posts, it's seen with other species as well. But, if you don't see it at all, I'd question whether a species was C. tepejilote.

Yellow stripe Chamaedorea tepejilote, suckering variety:

The above shot is not as crystal clear as I would prefer with the lens I have on my camera (not a real macro lens), but you can see it on the petiole to the right. It is like someone took a brush of yellow paint and applied it in perfect fashion along the outside of the stem.

Now let's move on. A species of Chamaedorea that was somewhat confusing in past years is Chamaedorea woodsoniana. When I first received seeds of this species over 20 years ago, it turned out to be a suckering Chamaedorea. Information on the species was scant. Nurserymen throughout the U.S. thought this was the true species. With this the confusion began. It later proved not to be C. woodsoniana at all. In time, and with Don Hodel's book in 1992, we became familiar with what the real Chamaedorea woodsoniana is. It is a very tall, thick, single trunk species with distribution from Mexico all the way down to South America. It is pinnate and quite beautiful.

Below is a picture from PACSOA by Mike Gray of C. woodsoniana:

The interesting thing about this species is the size and girth of the trunk. It gets to over 10 meters and is reportedly up to four inches in diameter. The flowers hang down, forked and have large clusters of seeds. Below is another photo by Mike Gray at PACSOA of "not quite ripe" fruit:

Tall Single Trunk Chamaedroea continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Tall, single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Below is a picture of what I thought 20 years ago was Chamaedorea woodsoniana. That's how the seeds came in. It is an attractive plant, but suckering. Remember, we essentially had no information on what woodsoniana was.

Note only is it suckering, but it has a flat leaf. Chamaedorea woodsoniana is somewhat keeled (like the hull of a boat). Below is a picture from the Palm and Cycad Society of New Zealand showing a trunking specimen:

Note three things about the above photo: pendant blossom with seeds, keeled (slight) leaves, and thick trunk.

As with many of the species that I have discussed here, there is very little information or pictures on the Internet. Below are some pictures of a specimen we have at the nursery in a 20g container. This plant is eight to ten feet long. You'll notice the dark green color of the trunk and the long crown shaft. It is thick, even at this stage. Once you get to know this appearance, you might be able to recognize it as a smaller plant. Also note the leaves are a bit keeled. The latter characteristic is most apparent on the leaf that's pointed away from you:

Below is a picture of the base of this plant:

Note the extremely long crown shaft.

Tall single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Tall single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Now let's take a closer look at C. woodsoniana. Below is a closer view of the leaf showing the wide leaflets and the slight keel to the leaf overall. The leaflets are somewhat wide at the point of attachment:

Below is a picture of the petiole from the under or back side of the leaf. Notice it is very rounded and smooth. On this picture you do not see the "yellow stripe" that you saw with C. tepejilote:

Here is a closer picture of the central growth point of this plant. Note the lack of the yellow stripe and the round leaf stem:

Culture is an interesting issue. The leaf substance is fairly thin. Yet, one would assume in habitat at a 40 foot height, this species would see direct sun. Therefore, one would assume it would take direct sun in Southern California. I do not think this is not the case. We don't have the humidity that I think this species would need for full sun. Therefore, I would anticipate that this species needs tall protection overhead. The same is reported in New Zealand. You must plant it beneath some tall, sun-protective trees. Like C. tepejilote, if it pierces the canopy overhead, it might be the end of it. I would appreciate feedback if people from this group have found they can grow it into full sun. It also likes plenty of water and good draining soil. I would suspect it tolerates, at best, upper twenties in terms of cold. It is indeed a beautiful species.

Tomorrow we'll discuss another tall and interesting species. Thanks for reading.

Phil

[quaman58]

Phil,

C woodsoniana is a beautiful palm; thanks for the info on it. I got a 5 gal. plant from you last spring. Unfortunately, it's been in a bit of a funk since then; just a bit "limey" looking & very little growth. Now & again I get a plant that takes a bit to adjust, so I'm not too concerned. I'll have a better idea as spring approaches, I guess. I've got in a shady area that seems to suit many other Chams. Time will tell!

Thanks again for this thread & all the time you've spent on it.

Bret

[Phil]

Tall, single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Good morning. I thought I'd say one more thing about Chamaedorea woodsoniana. Remember how I told you historically there was confusion about what this species truly looked like? If you go to Don Hodel's book and review pages 220-222, you will find a good summary of his efforts to sort it out. This includes the usage of another name at that time, "Chamaedroea vistae". which has presently been dropped. As usual, Don does a great job telling his story of the species.

Now on to another species that should be a real crowd pleaser. Chamaedorea linearis is definitely one of my favorite Chamaedoreas. This species is unique for a lot of reasons. First, it is a South American species. It has natural stands in Venezuela, Columbia, Bolivia and Equador. It is on both the eastern and western slopes of the Andes. It grows at an elevation from near sea level to over a mile! Another unique thing is its very thick trunk. You are familiar with C. tepejilote and woodsoniana. These are rivals for the "who has the fattest trunk" contest. A third really appealing thing about this species is the variety of colors you will see in its trunk and crown shaft. Chamaedorea linearis is a real "chameleon". It can change colors over the months right in front of you.

To show this point, I'll first post a picture here that I posted about a month ago at the "Discussing Palms" section elsewhere at this website. This picture was actually taken about two months ago:

Below is a picture taken a few days ago of the same crown shaft. You can see the previous immature blossoms have opened (it appears to be a female). Compare the colors of this same crown shaft after about two months. You will see that the lime green with splashes of black have evolved into a faint yellow-green color. Who knows what the next one will look like?:

In that same thread started by Peter (mentioned above), he posted this picture of the trunk of a palm at a nursery that apparently had gotten seeds from Lyon Arboretum 10 years ago:

Lyon Arboretum near Honolulu is known to have plants and has distributed seeds in the past. Now compare this color above to the color of the specimen I am showing you today. You'll note that the one below is a totally different color:

I'm showing you this big picture to really make a point here. The trunks and crown shafts of Chamaedorea change colors, not only from plant to plant but with the same actual plant. I've seen this myself. You'll note that the pictue above (taken in 2007 of a different specimen of C. linearis) has a lime green trunk with a hint of cream. The one two pictures above is nearly white in color. this is truly amazing and beautiful. Dypsis guys get excited about a few speckles on a petiole. What about the colors of this guy?!!

You can see that this species excites me. And, when you hear about culture, you should be excited as well. I'm going to show lots of pictures on this species, so get ready. And, this is another species where, if you aren't excited, put the mirror in front of your mouth and make sure things are still working.

Tall single trunk Chamaedroea continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Tall single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Below is a picture of another specimen at our greenhouse. This sot is of the trunk toward the base. Note this trunk is definitely green in color with splotches of black:

In the photo above, I don't know what the little tag along seedlings at the base are; probably just seeds that fell down and germinated. But, you are getting an idea of the colors you see in the trunk and crown shaft. In Don Hodel's book he describes the trunks as being: "smooth,...glossy, light green, yellow, mottled green, prominently ringed". He describes the crownshaft as "striated, green, brown-margined". He obviously appreciated a white array of colors with this species. But, one thing a taxonomist doesn't usually have the opportunity to do is watch the same plant over time. He arrives to inspect the plant in habitat and is most likely gone the same day or in a matter of days. So, reports might result that there is a wide variety of colors seen. In a nursery we have the opportunity to observe the same plant over time until it sells. And, Chamaedorea linearis behaves like a chamelion.

Let's take a closer look at the girth of this species' trunk. Below is a photo of the trunk with a rather fat pen for comparison. You will note that the trunk is quite thick with prominent brown nodes:

And, for you blossom guys and budding taxonomists, here's a spent blossom (female as I recall) on our representative plant. Male blossoms (staminate) look quite similar:

What about trunk height? In his book, Don says it is "2 to 10 meters tall". This makes it a contest with C. woodsoniana. The specimen below in our greenhouse isin a 20g container, 14 feet tall, and has at least a few meters of trunk:

Tall, single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Tall, single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Below is a picture fromt he PlantaPalm website, taken by Martin Gibbons/Tobias Spanner (some of you know Toby):

And here's the caption below their photo:

"An exciting discovery from the highlands of Ecuador where it grows in cool, moist, shady conditions,

making it a contender for the sheltered garden...."

Here's a photo from the Fairchild Tropical Garden website of a rather small tree:

And look at the crownshaft of their specimen at the Garden, once again with an array of colors:

Now let's take a closer look at the leaves. This species holds 3 to 8 leaves and each leaf can be up to 10 feet long. The specimen below has leaves about 5 feet:

You'll note that the leaflets are wide, quite long, and that the leaf has at least 30 or more leaflets.

Tall single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Tall, single trunk Chamaedorea continued:

Here's another look at a single leaf, looking up from below:

You can see that the leaves are long, the leaflets fairly wide and long, and the leaflets have prominent veins.

Below is a 12 to 14 foot plant at the nursery with about 8 feet of trunk from the ground to the emerging leaves:

Below is a photo from PACSOA by Ian Edwards showing the beautiful leaves of this species with lots of inflorescenses emerging:

So, what about culture? The 20g specimen above has been outdoors for several years and did see 25 degrees during the winter of 2007. This species likes a protected, under-canopy location with good draining soil and ample water. It is a perfect tall Chamaedorea for those of you who have established tall canopy. Why we still have a plant or two at the nursery is beyond me. The shear beauty and charm of this species should make it a must for all those who can grow it. This, I think, is an ideal palm for the righ spot in a coastal Southern California garden.

Another shot from PACSOA by Ian Edwards:

Thanks again for reading. I guess you can tell I really like this species. And, I guarantee you, the accumulation of photos above is the most you'll see in any one location anywhere on the Internet of this amazing species.

Take care,

Phil

[Phil]

Group,

As I mentioned, this thread is ending. But, it will appear in another form and location in the not so distant future. I thank all of you who have read these posts over the last few months and especially those who have given feedback. Over the next several days I am going to show you a series of a good number of photos, many of which are among my favorites. There will be no discussion, no stories, no comparisons, etc. Only photos, many without even identification of what you're looking at. But, the rest of the story will come soon.

I apologize that my future posts here will most likely be more of the typical format you see in this section. It appears that in these are times where posts about a "good deal" on some single palm draw more readership than educational threads with a lot of pictues.

So, here we go. We'll start with some shots from Madagascar and others of Malagassy species, with some of these pictues by M.R.:

.

Continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Continued:

Continued:

Phil

[Phil]

Continued:

(R.M.)

Continued later.

Phil

[doubravsky]

Phil, while I will be very sorry to see this thread end, I want to thank you for all of the wonderful pics and great articles. I've learned a trememndous amount about palms and cycads, both ones I can grow and also many I can't. And the pictures have been fantastic. You've put many hours into this and I appreciate it very much.

And since I just recently began trying to re-acquaint myself with my surfing roots, I may find myself down your way more often and plan to visit the nursery this spring. thanks again!

[freakypalmguy]

I too am sad to see it go. It has been entertaining, educational, understandable (important for a simple guy like myself), and just downright interesting. Many a steamy cup were thrown back whilst browsing this thread. I have learned a lot and appreciate the time it took you to put all these great pictures together with the text.

Thank you Phil, look forward to your future postings,

Matt