Syagrus flexuosa

[Jonathan]

Information about this palm seems to be pretty thin on the ground.

Are any of you growing it, or do you know anything about its cold tolerance, natural distribution, habitat, etc?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Hi Jonathan

from what i have just read on these links looks hardy to around -3c (howea territory)

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rL3dHV...lt&resnum=8

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=...sa%3DN%26um%3D1

[Jonathan]

Thanks Troy - that looks promising.

I put some seeds in at the weekend....

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Sergio]

Information about this palm seems to be pretty thin on the ground.

Are any of you growing it, or do you know anything about its cold tolerance, natural distribution, habitat, etc?

Cheers,

Jonathan

I'm growing a young specimen in the garden and it proved to be cold-hardy enough. Here the minimum Winter temperature can be -2/-3°C and it withstood this minimum without any damage.It is young but began already suckering.

Regards, Sergio

[Jonathan]

I'm growing a young specimen in the garden and it proved to be cold-hardy enough. Here the minimum Winter temperature can be -2/-3°C and it withstood this minimum without any damage.It is young but began already suckering.

Regards, Sergio

Thanks Sergio,

You seem to be the only person in the world growing this palm.....well there may be others out there somewhere, but not many by the looks of things - hopefully I'll be one of them soon!

-3°C is pretty cold, so our climate won't worry it, does it take frost at that temperature as well, or is yours shade grown?

Also do you think its reasonably drought hardy?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Mark Heath]

Hello Jonathan,

I have a large specimen here in Orlando Florida. I'll take some pics soon and post them for you. It does'nt like frost at all, very tender. But it did take 22f this past winter but it is under an oak canopy!

It is quite large and has a smaller sucker right next to it. The inflorescences are huge, many seeds!!

[Jonathan]

Hello Jonathan,

I have a large specimen here in Orlando Florida. I'll take some pics soon and post them for you. It does'nt like frost at all, very tender. But it did take 22f this past winter but it is under an oak canopy!

It is quite large and has a smaller sucker right next to it. The inflorescences are huge, many seeds!!

Thanks Mark, looking forward to the photo's.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Mark Heath]

Here we go, sorry for the pics, but it is the best i can do w/ the oaks in the way!

[Mark Heath]

Here is a cloe-up of the trunk.

[MattyB]

How can you tell the difference between S. cearensis and S. flexuosa?

[epicure3]

How can you tell the difference between S. cearensis and S. flexuosa?

They're spelled differently.

[Mark Heath]

How can you tell the difference between S. cearensis and S. flexuosa?

Hey Matty,

They do look simular don't they?? I bought the palm from a guy who is well known and trusted, and that was the lable!

Syagrus Flexuosa! His name is Bernie Peterson. I'm sure many people here have heard his name, at least in Florida!

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the snaps Mark.

Are the leaf tips always brown like that - or is it winter damage or some other kind of stress?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Mark Heath]

Jonathon,

No, the leaftips are not allways brown. We had a very bad winter this year and that is the damage/result!! I would

say that i am happy that is all the damage it recieved w/ 22f temps! It is positioned under a larger Oak canopy because they're frost intolerant!

[Gileno Machado]

Hi Jonathan,

I was planning to photograph my seedlings to post in your thread but then I just couldn't find where I put them, among the other several Syagrus seedlings at the beach house !

I am not particularly fond of the species...In fact no clumping Syagrus looks that great to me...

I saw a nice grown up S. flexuosa clump the other day at a nursery, profusely fruiting and then it attracted me somehow.

This species is native to a widespread area of cerrado in central Brazil (7 States) and it grows south to São Paulo State, so it must be some cold hardier than many other Syagrus species. My local book on palms says it grows up to 4 m of clear trunk in habitat and holds up to 15 (1 m) long fronds in each stem.

Good luck with yours...

[Jonathan]

Hi Jonathan,

I was planning to photograph my seedlings to post in your thread but then I just couldn't find where I put them, among the other several Syagrus seedlings at the beach house !

I am not particularly fond of the species...In fact no clumping Syagrus looks that great to me...

I saw a nice grown up S. flexuosa clump the other day at a nursery, profusely fruiting and then it attracted me somehow.

This species is native to a widespread area of cerrado in central Brazil (7 States) and it grows south to São Paulo State, so it must be some cold hardier than many other Syagrus species. My local book on palms says it grows up to 4 m of clear trunk in habitat and holds up to 15 (1 m) long fronds in each stem.

Good luck with yours...

Hi Gileno,

not being able to find your seedlings is a very nice problem to have - I don't quite have that trouble yet - but I'm working on it!

I'm sitting on the fence with this species....I've seen one photo of a really nice looking specimen, and a few that look pretty tattered.

For some reason I've just always wanted to try it out....cerrado is a dry savannah type of vegetation isn't it?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Gileno Machado]

Hi Jonathan,

I was planning to photograph my seedlings to post in your thread but then I just couldn't find where I put them, among the other several Syagrus seedlings at the beach house !

I am not particularly fond of the species...In fact no clumping Syagrus looks that great to me...

I saw a nice grown up S. flexuosa clump the other day at a nursery, profusely fruiting and then it attracted me somehow.

This species is native to a widespread area of cerrado in central Brazil (7 States) and it grows south to São Paulo State, so it must be some cold hardier than many other Syagrus species. My local book on palms says it grows up to 4 m of clear trunk in habitat and holds up to 15 (1 m) long fronds in each stem.

Good luck with yours...

Hi Gileno,

not being able to find your seedlings is a very nice problem to have - I don't quite have that trouble yet - but I'm working on it!

I'm sitting on the fence with this species....I've seen one photo of a really nice looking specimen, and a few that look pretty tattered.

For some reason I've just always wanted to try it out....cerrado is a dry savannah type of vegetation isn't it?

Cheers,

Jonathan

Not dry at all, Jonathan but still less humid than both Atlantic forest and Amazonia.

The only semi-arid region in inland Brazil is the caatinga up here in the Northeast, above 15 degrees latitude, away from the coast, at the moment experiencing unusual high precipitation and floodings. Syagrus flexuosa is not native from this area so I wouldn't count on high drought tolerance for the species.

[DoomsDave]

I've tried S. flexulosa here in California in pots, and they've been really slow, though they seem hardy enough.

Don't have any in the ground, so far.

[mnorell]

I have a small S. flexuosa (3/4" stem diameter at base) growing here under open sky and it took several freezes, the worst this year being a 15-hour freeze to 24.1F, in which it mostly (but not completely) defoliated. It started back into growth early and has thrown a nice long new leaf, no stunting and it looks quite happy. It's pretty fast-growing and doesn't mind our rather chilly 3-month winter, at least not below soil level. I have high hopes for this one as we are subjected every once in a great while to devastating freezes that would take out the hardiest of the solitary, arborescent Syagrus. The clumpers at least have the chance to regrow new trunks...as long as they're decently fast growers.

Great to see that Sergio's flexuosa has no problems handling the winters in Rome, which is about 7F colder day and night than my average temperatures. And also that Mark's nice specimen in toasty central Florida tolerated a winter minimum colder than the low we had up here in chilly Mississippi this year...how twisted is that?

As for the differences between S. flexuosa and S. cearensis, the latter palm was just described by Larry Noblick in 2004 in the Palms journal. He noted some strong differences by describing cearensis as follows: "...the leaflets were larger, broader, and more leathery, the fruits larger, rounder, and more flattened at the tip instead of elongated and pointed, and the primary branches were evenly arranged around the rachis of the inflorescence, not turned to one side as in S. flexuosa." (IPS members can read the whole article in the Members Only section of palms.org).

Also, when I look at the descriptions for these two, I see that cearensis is described as having stems 4-10m tall and 10-18cm diameter...flexuosa by contrast is only 1-5m tall and 5-8 (rarely 10)cm diameter. So it sounds like cearensis is much larger in just about all its parts. Individuals of both species apparently can be solitary, but generally they have two or more stems.

[Jonathan]

Michael,

That all sounds pretty promising - thanks.

Jonathan

[gyuseppe]

On 5/11/2009 at 10:21 AM, Sergio said:

 

 

 

I'm growing a young specimen in the garden and it proved to be cold-hardy enough. Here the minimum Winter temperature can be -2/-3°C and it withstood this minimum without any damage.It is young but began already suckering.

Regards, Sergio

friend SERGIO(Sergio Quercellini Roma) if you read this post,contact me please

[tim_brissy_13]

@Jonathan how are your S flexuosa going 16 years later. I’d be curious to know whether they had enough warmth down there to sustain growth. 
 

I’ve got just a single S cataphracta seedling which I except will be similar in its requirements to S flexuosa given it was previously considered a variant (as Cocos flexuosa var cataphracta). It has strangely sent out a very long first frond that just keeps growing. I was worried about it until last week when I’ve noticed it’s just started to show a second spike emerging. I’ve got it baking in full sun up against a north facing fence and haven’t fertilised at all yet really so not sure what’s caused the apparent etiolation. 
 

Definitely not enough of the rare Syagrus species in cultivation. 
 

 

[gyuseppe]

mine died many years ago, from the cold

[Jonathan]

2 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

@Jonathan how are your S flexuosa going 16 years later. I’d be curious to know whether they had enough warmth down there to sustain growth. 
 

I’ve got just a single S cataphracta seedling which I except will be similar in its requirements to S flexuosa given it was previously considered a variant (as Cocos flexuosa var cataphracta). It has strangely sent out a very long first frond that just keeps growing. I was worried about it until last week when I’ve noticed it’s just started to show a second spike emerging. I’ve got it baking in full sun up against a north facing fence and haven’t fertilised at all yet really so not sure what’s caused the apparent etiolation. 
 

Definitely not enough of the rare Syagrus species in cultivation. 
 

 

Hi Tim, the short answer is that the seeds didn't germinate, so they never got started as such.

I had that problem with a few of the less common Syagrus species. The only ones I have left are one ruschiana and a schizophylla. They both live in pots in my greenhouse and are as slow as snails!

My advice is not to push the palm down the slide...the increase in speed will only be temporary! 

[tim_brissy_13]

17 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Hi Tim, the short answer is that the seeds didn't germinate, so they never got started as such.

I had that problem with a few of the less common Syagrus species. The only ones I have left are one ruschiana and a schizophylla. They both live in pots in my greenhouse and are as slow as snails!

My advice is not to push the palm down the slide...the increase in speed will only be temporary! 

🤣. I’ve had the same problem with rare Syagrus. I’ve spent a lot over the last couple of years all for a 1x S cataphracta and 1x S harleyi to germinate. 

[Phoenikakias]

2 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

🤣. I’ve had the same problem with rare Syagrus. I’ve spent a lot over the last couple of years all for a 1x S cataphracta and 1x S harleyi to germinate. 

What a funny name for a sp. Originally this term was used to to describe the heavily armored ancient Persian cavalry.

[pietropuccio]

1 hour ago, Phoenikakias said:

What a funny name for a sp. Originally this term was used to to describe the heavily armored ancient Persian cavalry.

😀

 von Martius, who obviously knew both Greek and Latin very well, gave this name to a variety of S. flexuosa (now considered a species) because of the persistent leaf bases that cover the stem almost as if to protect it like armour.