Sabal yapa

[Fouquieria]

I've been building a path up on the steep undeveloped part of the yard for the last month or two. I'll take a couple of days off between digging the posts for each step. So today I went down on the lower lot and watered and then weeded. There was that stinking tumble weed everywhere AGAIN. The development that went bankrupt surrounds my lot and everything is full of weeds.

Anyway, it's been about two weeks since I've been down there. Last year I planted a lot of palm tree seedlings on one side and mostly tabebuias on the other side. Some of the palms I planted were various seedlings I got off eBay. Most of them are doing OK but I did lose some. I got a Sabal 'Riverside' from osideterry and planted it down on the far corner. It seems to be doing fine. Last year I watered a Sabal causiarum too much and the spear pulled, but it too seems to be doing fine. I just haven't seen any new growth yet. I lost a very small Sabal rosei. Some of the smallest sabals seem to be alive but aren't really growing...same for the Medemia. Of course the Washingtonias and CIDPs are growing like weeds. The real surprise for me has been a Sabal yapa. I got it quite small but it has been growing vigorously. The new pleated leaves have an interspersed color combination of olive green/turquoise blue. Just lovely. Anyone else growing this in Southern California?

The new path:

[paulgila]

hard to tell about s.yapa--there is alot of confusion about which is the real one.

("will the REAL s.yapa please stand up?")

the steps look great,ron!

[freakypalmguy]

Mine has grown quite fast as well

[BS Man about Palms]

Ho are the Jubea's doing down there?

(Great work by the way.)

[osideterry]

As confusing as Sabals are, yapa gets most mixed up with mauritiiformis. My mauritiiformis is a slow grower and the underside of the fronds are a bluish-silver. I have no experience with yapa.

I would love to see how the riverside is doing if you have a pic.

[Matt in SD]

I have both S yapa and mauritiiformis. Yapa has a more costapalmate leaf, and it seems to have a stiffer texture. The middle two leaf segments are angled so that the upper surfaces are at a acute (<90 degree) angle to each other. With mauritiiformis, the leaf is much more flat. To me they are really unique looking relative to each other and to all othe sabals. S yapa has been a good grower for me so far, but it's only been in the ground for about 6 months.

Matt

[Fouquieria]

Ho are the Jubea's doing down there?

Bill, I lost the more robust one...probably from overwtering. The one that I thought I would have problems with is growing great.

This has been a learning experience for me as I have never grown many palms. I've found that cycads are mostly easier for my environment...very steep, very rocky, very heavy clay.

[paulgila]

keep going with the palms,ron,i hear the cycad forum is not very exciting.

[Tala]

there are 2 forms of yapa, kind of like the way the Louisiana form of Sabal minor is more robust than the Florida variety. On appearances alone one wouldn't think they'd be the same species. One yapa type originates from the Yucatan on down to Belize (unsure if this is a continuous distribution), has smallish fronds, leaflets not as joined, only somewhat segmented w/ pendulous tips, a slight blueish cast to them. The 2nd type is found in western Cuba, fronds are more circular and noticeably larger overall, is very similar to a mauritiiformis but not quite as deeply segmented (maurit's are pinwheel-shaped, a much more open appearance), and very silver underneath. The old leaf bases attached to the stem will hold green color for awhile but not as long as maurit. Here both are more cold hardy than any maurit, but usually not as fast growing. They're spectacular when planted in groups. The Cuban form seems to almost an intermediate between a maurit and the Yucatan yapa.

[Surf Guy]

I have a S. yapa in the ground. I bought it as a five gallon and planted it in April 2009. It has opened several fronds but doesn't look much bigger. I have it under 40% shade cloth in hopes that it will stretch. It is a slow grower for me but I am a patient man.

Where's the pix?

[freakypalmguy]

Here's a picture of what I have growing as Sabal yapa in full sun. It's been in the ground 2 years from a 5 gallon pot and had just began producing character leaves. I've been surprised at it's speed of growth, considering how slow S. mauritiiformis grows.

[Sabal Steve]

On October 15, 2010 7:49:33 PM, Surf Guy said:

I have a S. yapa in the ground. I bought it as a five gallon and planted it in April 2009. It has opened several fronds but doesn't look much bigger. I have it under 40% shade cloth in hopes that it will stretch. It is a slow grower for me but I am a patient man.

 

Where's the pix?

 

Could we see an update?

[Surf Guy]

Steve,

sorry for for the super late reply but I haven't been on in a while. My yapa is dead and gone. I didn't realize how far down healed palms can pull themselves until I saw my yapa pull itself WAY down. We had a lot of rain the winter after I planted it and it had wet feet for too long and died the next spring. I have a mauritiiformis in a pot I may plant. Anyway, take it easy.

 

Happy growing!