Who else has Raphia palms ?

[aussiearoids]

I have a few nice size seedlings of Raphia hookeri , and a Raphia farinifera as well as R. australis .

The hookeri has amazing scurfy twirls around the trunk . See my pics on PACSOA .. It was harvested and sold to florists .

Wynne pictured here with coils . She even was shown bridal bouquets made with it .

[aussiearoids]

There are approx 20 species listed on Kew and a few ssp. Some are not that tropical as I have heard of them being grown in north NSW . And they dont get that big if you starve them and only give them natural rainfall . 4m/ year

Some of the ones that flowered at Whyanbeel only got up to 6m or so . hey mon a dreadlock palm

[ariscott]

I have one... apparently Raphia vinifera, although I am not sure whether it is or not... It is still trying to grow....lol. Maybe after this wet season, I have something worthy to show you...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

I have a Raphia vinifera which has probably tripled it's size in 3 years. I dug a huge hole for it and filled it with peat and compost. It yellows a bit in winter and has just come to a stop now. It was pushing a spear out faster in August when we had a warm spell. When the weather warms I'll give it a hit of fert and it'll green up again. I flood it in summer and it responds well.

Best regards

Tyrone

[fiji jim]

I have one.

Who can tell me which species it is ?

Looks like two trunks.

Jim

[fiji jim]

So Michael does this look like any of yours?

[fiji jim]

And a closer look.

See the small thorns on the leaflets.

I do not know if all the Raphia have these.

Perhaps it will help to ID this one.

Any opinions appreciated.

Thanks, Jim

[aussiearoids]

Jim , most have spines on the leaves .. the only way to tell is by the shape of the seeds .

australis has nice orange petioles .

[Eric in Orlando]

We are growing 3 young ones here.

Raphia farinifera

Raphia ruwenzorica

Raphia sudanica

[Kostas]

Beautyfull Raphia all of you!

I am trying to germinate Raphia ruwenzorica myself some months now but still nothing but i guess i should have a germinator till the end of the year as i have them on germination for a loooong time...

Eric,

How old is your R. ruwenzorica? Its a beauty along with your R. farinifera!!!

[Eric in Orlando]

I got the seeds from RPS last year so about a year old and it is already over 3ft tall, its a very vigorous grower. Have another in a container to plant out next spring.

I have never gotten R. taedigera to grow, it just slowly fades away.

[Kostas]

Wow,its exactly as i want it!!! Only a year from seed? Perfect for the spot Cant wait to get mine germinate,yours are probably from the same batch of seed as mine(i dont remember well,i got them last winter's winter or this year in early spring/winter).Did you kept the seeds wet to germinate? I have 0 with average moisture

I am sorry to hear R. taedigera doesnt do well for you Its trully one of the most beautyfull Raphia i think!

[bgl]

I have planted a number of Raphias, and they've all turned into real monsters. In a good way! Here's a Raphia australis. Planted from a 1G pot in 1998.

[bgl]

A double Raphia farinifera. Planted from a 15G pot in 1996. Bought it from a private grower for $17.50!

[bgl]

Raphia taedigera. The first photo shows part of a row of 20 R. taedigera. Bought them in 1999. They were in 1G pots. Planted them about 5 ft apart! (The palm on the right is an Attalea speciosa). The second photo shows two R. taedigera that were planted in 1997, also from 1G pots.

[The Palm Nut]

I planted my Raphia australis very close to my house taking into account its size, by that I mean I want the wow factor when people drive into my place.

It gives them some insight into my way of thinking, how I like to live.

Cheers

Mike

[Matt in SD]

Eric,

I'm jealous of your Raphia ruwenzorica. Gary and I split an order of 200 seeds a few years ago and got nothing. Major bummer. Do you remember where you got it?

Great photos everyone else. I'm not sure if I can grow Raphia's at my new place, but I will try at some point.

Matt

[Eric in Orlando]

Eric,

I'm jealous of your Raphia ruwenzorica. Gary and I split an order of 200 seeds a few years ago and got nothing. Major bummer. Do you remember where you got it?

Great photos everyone else. I'm not sure if I can grow Raphia's at my new place, but I will try at some point.

Matt

I got them from rarepalmseeds.com. I got 10 seeds and 3 germinated but one seedling died for some unknown reason. I got 10 more not too long ago and have 2 germinating.

[aussiearoids]

The Raphia hookeri seeds I picked up at Whyanbeel in June of last year . One seed sprouted almost straight away , it is now over 1m tall . Another one sprouted a few months later , but the spear rotted out in early fall . BUT it has grown back well , and now there is another 3 small sprouts in the pot over a year after being sown . I have them in a very bright spot , hot as ..sitting on my concrete septic tank .

[Matt in SD]

Eric,

We also got ours from RPS, but about 2 1/2 years ago now. I had emailed with at least one other person who got seeds from the same batch as us with no luck. I remember hearing that the seeds the next year were germinating, maybe it was from you. Or maybe you got the same seeds as us and did something right?

Matt

[Peter]

I got this Raphia from Leon, who got the seed from the Botanical Auction in Florida. It was listed as Raphia species, Montgomery Botanic Gardens. Does anyone know what it might be? Here's the photo-don't know if it's big enough to id yet. It has fine thorns all along the leaf edges and veins if that helps:

[Eric in Orlando]

Here is a flowering R. sudanica at Fairchild, photo was taken 5 yrs ago;

[bgl]

In order for this thread to remain on topic I just deleted three posts; two by gsn that added nothing to the discussion about Raphias as well as PALM MOD's response to gsn.

[ron@springhammock]

I have a young Rapha farinifera that's been in the ground a few years and is about 5 feet tall. It's been through a few freezes with the lowest temps down to 26F and hasn't shown any damage. It seems to handle the cold even better than A. cunninghamiana.

After seeing the R. sudanica at FTG many years ago, it's been something I've desired for a long time. It has a real prehistoric look to it, a lot like a Nypa, but with it's small stature makes more sense as a landscape palm. Fortunately RPS was able to offer this and I have a few now growing.

[Jeff Searle]

Here is a flowering R. sudanica at Fairchild, photo was taken 5 yrs ago;

Eric,

That's an incredible picture showing R. sudanica. I'm growing these at the nursery, but never realized what they looked like as they get older.

I have a large (30' +/-) R. australis at the nursery that is in the middle of flowering. I'm going to be really disappointed when it finally dies. The flower blooms come out of the top like a Corypha palm. And....to add insult to injury, my R. farinifera at my house is blooming too. But the very large flower spikes are coming out the sides up in the head of the palm. Very different from the above mentioned.

[aussiearoids]

WOW the pics of R.sudanica flowering are amazing . Thanks very much Eric .. this is what I was hoping for .

It appears almost trunkless . Did any seed mature from that flowering ?

Edited September 25, 2009 by aussiearoids

[ariscott]

Looking at all those pics.. I think I have Raphia australis. Not that I am complaining.... I think they are beautiful... Just annoying when something is not labelled right...

Regards, Ari

[mpiodi]

This one is growing not far from mount Ruwenzori in North Eastern Kongo.

So I guess it may be Raphia ruwenzorica

I have grown a lot. They like swampy ground, so I put them outside Kinshasa on a field near to fishponds.

Regards