Ugly Palms

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Straight up... CIDP.

Perhaps the ugliest palm out there.

Jeff

[JEFF IN MODESTO]

Sago Palm.

Nadda palm... its a Cycad

[AggiePalms]

Sago Palm.

That and the Cardboard palm, whew, those babies disgrace the palm world

Yep.

Don't forget the Ponytail palm, not even a palm's bottom in my humble opinion..

[Jim in Los Altos]

Rhopalostylis, Chamberonia, Roystonea, Ceroxylon, Cocos, and any pinnate palms. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!!! They all should be banned! Even uglier is the silver Bismarckia. What a disgrace to nature. When you really think about it ALL palms are ugly. There color, their shape, their size. They all look the same. Give me a nice pine tree. Any pine tree, because they're all prettier than a palm!

Don't you all agree?

[AggiePalms]

Actually Jim I do agree...silver Bismarckias are the ugliest. Or at least mine is. It didn't make it through the winter, a surprise last minute casualty, so my Silver Biz is now a Brown Biz. Not even any leaves anymore, I cut them all off, and no spear either. Oh well, at least my Ugly Green Bismarckia is doing well, all things considered.

[Jonathan]

How many times do we need to have this same pointless conversation?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...one mans junk is another mans jewel...etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Regards,

Bored.

[sarasota alex]

I think all palms are beautiful, when they are well cared for or are in habitat. There are three things however that I would consider ugly in the palm world - a Latania trunk, a Colpothrinax trunk, and a Coccothinax spissa trunk

[BS Man about Palms]

Sago Palm.

That and the Cardboard palm, whew, those babies disgrace the palm world

Yep.

Those are cycads . . . .

Really?

[BS Man about Palms]

Sabal, Trachycarpus, and most Dypsis.

Best are well-maintained CIDPs and Archontophoenix.

What??

I doubt few people are familiar with most Dypsis to be able to make such a judgement.

Yeah with over 140 species to drop at once, thats a big blanket statement.

[JASON M]

Rhopalostylis, Chamberonia, Roystonea, Ceroxylon, Cocos, and any pinnate palms. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!!! They all should be banned! Even uglier is the silver Bismarckia. What a disgrace to nature. When you really think about it ALL palms are ugly. There color, their shape, their size. They all look the same. Give me a nice pine tree. Any pine tree, because they're all prettier than a palm!

Don't you all agree?

Why are you even ON this site than??

[Rafael]

I am with Jonathan (each mind each taste), but still i do not understand how is it possible to say such a thing of CIDP...

I am also with Jim in Los Altos... That's a perfect thought Jim!

[BS Man about Palms]

Its fun seeing who sees sarcasm and who doesn't.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Rhopalostylis, Chamberonia, Roystonea, Ceroxylon, Cocos, and any pinnate palms. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!!! They all should be banned! Even uglier is the silver Bismarckia. What a disgrace to nature. When you really think about it ALL palms are ugly. There color, their shape, their size. They all look the same. Give me a nice pine tree. Any pine tree, because they're all prettier than a palm!

Don't you all agree?

Jason, Jason, Jason, with 300+ palms in my yard and a business specializing in palms and subtropicals you can see how much I must think they're all ugly...right? No, I was just making a sarcastic remark. There's hardly a thing a our planet that's as much of a pleasure to look for me than a healthy palm. Some are prettier than others, of course.

Why are you even ON this site than??

[velutina]

ITT: What kind of bear is best?

The real "ugly" ones in my area are queens and trachys. They look great in the right climate, but not in the high desert.

[freakypalmguy]

All my palms are the best, the rest are ugly turds

Edited May 9, 2010 by freakypalmguy

[Jim in Los Altos]

All my palms are the best, the rest are ugly turds

Nuh uhh. My palms 'r' better 'n' yers. :angry:

[xerophyte_nyc]

Sago Palm.

That and the Cardboard palm, whew, those babies disgrace the palm world

Yep.

Those are cycads . . . .

Really?

What about Madagascar Palm?

x

[Got Palms]

Here's one for the ugly vote, unless you live in the arctic.

[RyManUtah]

ponytail palm.

[displaced_floridian]

Here it is--the ugliest palm I've seen in a photograph or for real:

[Wanderanwills]

Here it is--the ugliest palm I've seen in a photograph or for real:

That is hilarious, finely manicured...

Where can i buy one...LOL

Regards

Stephen

[Wanderanwills]

Here's one for the ugly vote, unless you live in the arctic.

Now that is a ugly palm, we have one like that down at the local Thai Restaurant, favorite place for a feed, but the palm is too much..

Regards

Stephen

[chris.oz]

Cat, pigeons...... hmm.

OK lets re-phrase the question, because most people seem to be offended by the concept of "ugliness"

which is indeed a subjective thing.

Which palms did you plant that you regretted , because they didnt look as good as other selections you could have made in your garden?

Lets leave fried Trachys and Queens out of this.

Did you ever take a palm out and replace it, because you didnt like the look of it ?

[peachy]

Definately Phoenix reclinata in that case Chris. Sadly by the time I realised what a horror it was growing into, it was too late to get rid of it. But oh to have the chance to undo what I did. I did plant a washingtonia once also but that soon went after I saw a photo of what they grew into.

Peachy

[Kim]

There are no ugly palms, only ugly things ugly people do to palms to make them ugly. For the majority of the palms mentioned as ugly, I have seen at least a few well grown examples. However, if forced to name an ugly palm, I'd mention Calamus.

With limited space, there are definitely some palms I prefer over others. With my neighborhood already crammed with Phoenix, Syagrus, and Washingtonia, there is zero incentive to plant them in my own garden. There are certain characteristics I prefer for my small garden -- a lush tropical look over a dry look, colorful palms over dull, and I prefer palms at a human scale over giant telephone poles. In a different garden, I would make different choices.

Of all the palms in my garden, the one I would consider removing was the first I planted -- Phoenix roebelenii. I don't care for the spines!

[sur4z]

OK...as the ex officio judge of this competition...the Queens Win!! Off with their heads!!

[Walter John]

Did you ever take a palm out and replace it, because you didnt like the look of it ?

That's closer to the point of this thread I'd say.

To answer your poser Chris, yes I have. It was very early on in my palm journey in the days of pinnate only Wal and untrained and unappreciated visions of various species. Those days have definitely gone. It was a Ravenea rivularis and after my wife and I saw some older specimens we thought we'd rather use the space for something better looking so I removed it and gave it to my daughter I think it was, that was a long time ago. In it's place went a Hyophorbe lagencaulis from memory.

And a few years later on after I saw some monster tall R dot rivularis I thought, wowza, I should have kept that majestic.

Perhaps this thread should be re-inserted with the title :

title = Did you ever take a palm out and replace it

subtitle = because you didnt like the look of it

[chris.oz]

Quite so Wal.

In retrospect its not surprising that few on a Palm Forum can think of an ugly palm or accept that one exists.

CHRIS

Did you ever take a palm out and replace it, because you didnt like the look of it ?

That's closer to the point of this thread I'd say.

To answer your poser Chris, yes I have. It was very early on in my palm journey in the days of pinnate only Wal and untrained and unappreciated visions of various species. Those days have definitely gone. It was a Ravenea rivularis and after my wife and I saw some older specimens we thought we'd rather use the space for something better looking so I removed it and gave it to my daughter I think it was, that was a long time ago. In it's place went a Hyophorbe lagencaulis from memory.

And a few years later on after I saw some monster tall R dot rivularis I thought, wowza, I should have kept that majestic.

Perhaps this thread should be re-inserted with the title :

title = Did you ever take a palm out and replace it

subtitle = because you didnt like the look of it

Edited May 19, 2010 by chris.oz

[EastCanadaTropicals]

On 5/8/2010 at 7:12 AM, Kelern said:

Strange you don't like CIDP! for me it is the palm par excellence, if you don't like CIDP you don't like palm trees.....

The ugliest to me : Copernicia macroglossa

CIDP look so artificial when trimmed.

[Bazza]

On 5/8/2010 at 7:47 AM, tropicbreeze said:

Should perhaps be "Palms that don't do anything for you". "Ugly" is a bit too harshly subjective. But I guess it would have to be Phoenix that don't do much for me.

 

Same as chili.

A retired Army Colonel once told me.....

There's no such thing as bad chili. Some's just better than others!

 

[Bazza]

1 hour ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

CIDP look so artificial when trimmed.

To each their own. They are gorgeous to me no matter what........

[ahosey01]

Isn’t the obvious answer to this thread Coccothrinax crinata?? I mean the entire appeal is precisely how ugly the damn thing is.  It’s like a Boojum tree. You plant one because it is so ugly.  LOL

Edited December 29, 2020 by ahosey01

[Fallen Munk]

I like palms.....

[Bazza]

13 minutes ago, Fallen Munk said:

I like palms.....

[EastCanadaTropicals]

3 hours ago, Bazza said:

To each their own. They are gorgeous to me no matter what........

That palm is actually pretty nice.

[Bazza]

6 minutes ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

That palm is actually pretty nice.

You know about nursery grades, don't you?

Here we have "Florida Fancy" as the #1 rating. Not quite a unicorn - but close!

Then it goes downward 1,2,and 3.

The one in the pic is a Florida #1 and close to a Florida Fancy, so yeah....it all depends on the quality.

 

 

[EastCanadaTropicals]

Just now, Bazza said:

You know about nursery grades, don't you?

Here we have "Florida Fancy" as the #1 rating. Not quite a unicorn - but close!

Then it goes downward 1,2,and 3.

The one in the pic is a Florida #1 and close to a Florida Fancy, so yeah....it all depends on the quality.

 

 

Oh, never heard of nursery grades.

[Bazza]

1 minute ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

Oh, never heard of nursery grades.

Been around a long time here:

 

I should also add that trunk has a slight curve to it - so not Florida Fancy based just on that one disqualifier alone.

 

[EastCanadaTropicals]

Just now, Bazza said:

Been around a long time here:

 

I should also add that trunk has a slight curve to it - so not Florida Fancy based just on that one disqualifier alone.

 

Wow. I don't live in Florida, so I didn't know about nursery grades.  

[Bazza]

1 minute ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

Wow. I don't live in Florida, so I didn't know about nursery grades.  

That's cool. There are people who do live here who don't know about them either...lol...