Parajubaea ID

[Matt in SD]

I got these two Parajubaea's last weekend. The one on the left was labeled P sunkha, and the one on the right was not tagged. From the P sunkha's I've seen, the one on the right (fine pinnate leaves) looks more like P sunkha to me. But the person I got them from seemed pretty confident that the one on the left was Sunkha. These were a great deal, so I'm happy whatever they are, but would like to know for sure. One other possibly relevant piece of info is that the finely pinnate palm on the right had a bit of a rough start, being neglected as a seedling in a shallow community pot. It's growing well now, but I do wonder whether that may have just made it go pinnate earlier than usual.

Here is a shot of the two plants:

And a closeup of the stem of the one still holding strap leaves:

And a closeup of the pinnate one:

Thanks,

Matt

[Daryl]

Matt, Mike (Newcal) and I purchased shot seed of this species at the same time from the same local grower several years ago. Mike's went into full sun and mine went into semi shade.

Mine took forever to get pinnate leaves, whilst his went pinnate much earlier.

Mine is now pinnate, but not entirely, as it is still in semi shade.

I think the amount of sun determines how pinnate these things are at an early age.

Daryl

[PalmGuyWC]

The best time to plant a Parajubaea is just as they have a couple of pinnate fronds, and once in the ground they really take off in growth. I've never planted them in the strap leaf stage, but that might work too. They really slow down once they get pot bound. They also like as much sun as you can give them. Shade really slows them down. I keep mine on the dry side in the summer and only deep soak them about every two weeks depending on the weather. I try to keep water out of the crown, but if I use overhead irrigation, I do it in the early morning on hot days. By evening all the water has evaporated away.

Matt, I'd say the one you have pictured on the right looks like a P. sunkha. They seem to have thinner leaf blades than the others.

Dick