Livistonas x 2

[PalmatierMeg]

Last Saturday was the most gorgeous day of the year so far here. My husband and I drove over to Eco Park for the semi-annual Cape Coral tropical plant sale. We came home with three palms and went to work preparing planting beds for them. I took these photos not long after sunup today. In the back yard:

Livistona mariae. This palm looks a bit stretched out but it is about 7-8' tall and should provide some shade for our D. carlsmithii.

Trunk and fronds

Livistona jenkinsiana. The fronds remind me of a Licuala but this should be much hardier.

Trunk and fronds

We also planted our little redneck palm near its teddybear coustin. I will post its photo in another topic.

[PalmatierMeg]

In the front yard beside the driveway:

Latania lontaroides

Red petioles. Gotta love 'em

[Kris]

Nice visuals...

Thanks & Love,

kris

[paulgila]

those are 2 great livistonas! looks like theres plenty of space for more!

[freakypalmguy]

Nice scores Meg, I wish I could grow L. jenkinsiana and Latania

[FRITO]

Wow Meg! Those are some nice additions. I have a smaller mariae and I would agree yours is a bit stretched, they show hues of red when in hot full sun as a juvinille.

Paul, Theres not much room left if you allow for growth on the existing palms! (But deont tell Meg)

[Daryl]

Hi Meg, I know it's stretched, but are you sure that is L.mariae? It looks like L.decora to me. That L.jenkinsiana is a beauty, they are one of the nicest Livistonas IMO.

regards,

Daryl

[Walter John]

Hi Meg, not sure you want shade for D. carlsmithii, he loves the sun.

[Tulio]

I agree with Daryl. This is my Livistona mariae.

[peachy]

Sorry to tell you Meg but that is a rather strange looking L.mariae. But don't fret, I used to have a couple of quite large ones at my old place and they are a nasty spikey thing and not particularly attractive so you are missing nothing. My smallest red latan is starting to change colour now from red everything everywhere to just red petioles and a few bits on the leaves. For a couple of years people thought it was some kind of strange dracaena, nobody believed that an all red palm existed. Red latans are pretty tough, my big one has been through a couple of cold frosts unscathed, as did my L. jenkinsianas. Still my favourite however is Livistona rotundifolia, they can survive anything with a bit of shelter from the worst of the sun and the worst of the cold. Your L. jenkinsiana is lovely, looks so healthy (as does the Latan) so congratulations on good shopping !!

Peachy

[PalmatierMeg]

OOPS. So, another L. decora makes 4. Guess you can't always trust local growers. Thanks for the heads-up.

Wal, I figured the D. carlsmithii might need a break from our ferocious summer sun. It seemed to struggle and look peak-ed all last summer. It seemed happier during fall/winter. Maybe it dislikes our unrelenting humid hot days and stifling nights.

[PalmatierMeg]

I took a closer look at my mystery Livistona and am further confused. I can certainly believe its is NOT L. mariae as I've never seen one. But this palm is quite different from my 3 L. decora. That difference is in the spination. Our other L. decoras have ferocious brown spines and had them when we planted them at 1m tall. Even our new 1m L. jenkinsiana has impressive spines. But the spines on my 2m+ mystery Livistona are almost invisible, so tiny you wouldn't notice them till they snagged you. That doesn't say, "Livistona decora" to me.

Could this palm be something other than L. decora or L. mariae? Or a hybrid? What Livistona species, if any, have small spines? Please educate me, Aussie PalmTalkers. Thanks.

[Kris]

Dear Meg

I have few L.Decora palms growing here and i have one in a cement pot.And i must say it looks very much similar to your palm in the first photo.

And when i take fresh photos i will upload that still to this thread.And though iam no palm expert but since iam growing here few of that L.Decora.Iam sure what you got there in still no.1 is a L.Decora.

And that is the reason why i always insist our dear members to upload stills of their palms on which discussion are held.Since we can get our doubts cleared right here in this forum.

Love,

kris

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Meg, my first guess is also Livistona decora. However, I had L. drudei that looked similar. However, here in Jacksonville, winter demonstrated the difference in hardiness rather bluntly. L. drudei is totally defoliated and L decora is unfazed. For comparison, Washingtonia robusta and Queens are pretty badly burnt here.

[PalmatierMeg]

Meg, my first guess is also Livistona decora. However, I had L. drudei that looked similar. However, here in Jacksonville, winter demonstrated the difference in hardiness rather bluntly. L. drudei is totally defoliated and L decora is unfazed. For comparison, Washingtonia robusta and Queens are pretty badly burnt here.

Keith, that's interesting. I've bowed to the force of greater knowledge (than mine) but I'm still confused about this palm. The fronds, while ribbon-y like those of decora, are more bluish and the trunk doesn't have strong rusty-red highlights like my 3 L. decoras. But what mystifies me most are the tiny, colorless, almost invisible teeth on the petioles. I can't even get a closeup photo of those teeth. When my decoras were 1/3 that size they were armed with shark's teeth. The L. jenkinsiana is ferociously armed. Does L. druidei have small teeth compared to other Livistonas? Do other Livistonas have small teeth? I'm hoping someone will address that issue but so far no one can or will. It's a conundrum.

[Steve the palmreader]

Meg Hope you find out the i.d. of that Liv . I bought one at sale last year on Pine island and planted it in my son yard also in Cape Coral the cold drought and floods have not hurt it all

[sick1166]

beautys

[Kris]

And here are the visuals...The seeds came to me from brother M@x

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Love,

kris

[Peter Pacific]

And here are the visuals...The seeds came to me from brother M@x

. . .

. . .

Love,

kris

Hello Meg, whatever your Livistona is it will be beautiful and especially beautiful because it's in YOUR garden! Best of luck to you, I can't wait to see you again! Peter

P.S. Very nice visuals Kris!

[JASON M]

I'm getting L. Chinensis tomorrow

[PalmatierMeg]

I'm getting L. Chinensis tomorrow

Good deal, Jason. Chinese fans are a gorgeous green.

[junglegalfla]

Bump, Meg, did you ever ID your mystery livistona? How about an updated pic. 

[PalmatierMeg]

Never did, Bren. Several years ago it went into a decline then died. I replaced it with a mule which eventually did the same. Nothing is in that spot now. I still have the L. jenkinsiana, redneck & red Latan. Since 2010 I acquired blue & yellow Latans.

[junglegalfla]

Thanks Meg, I was curious as I have a supposed F2 decora/mariae hybrid and was researching. Sounds like you found your dead zone. I had one at last garden street side. I figured too many oil changes/dumpd in years passed. Man wasnt always kind to the environment when we didn't know better. I tried 4 palms before I gave up.