giant Livistona unknown

[Geoff]

I know this Livistona may been beat to death (in discussions, that is)... but I don't recall if there was a concensis about what it is... It is only 10' tall, but the leaves are enormous. And the photo of the spines show it is NOT likely L saribus, as often folks say it is. Most have guessed speciosa/jenkinsiana... but is it? Admittedly that latter species often does extremely poorly in southern California, so maybe the fact that this is unique is because it is one of the only ones that has survived in southern California.. .Pauleen's palm.

[paulgila]

i dunno that much about livistona,although i am growing quite a few,actually,one of them being jenkinsiana,which is doing well for me even though i'm in a low spot & get more cold than surrounding areas,so what i'm trying to say in a round-about way is that it could be jenkinsiana.

wow,that is a hell of a sentence!

[Tala]

That palm has to be either jenkisiana or speciosa, quite a large specimen as well. The latest issue of Palmcipes clarifies the subtle diff.'s between jenkinsiana and speciosa. Mostly its in the fruits/reproductive parts as usual. If you have fruit the jenk drupes are wider than long while speciosa is longer than wide. Vegetatively the appear identical, jenks holds a longer petiole & wider blade than speciosa. Some figures for jenk: petiole length 240-260cm, blade width 270-290. If the fronds are smaller than that it's a speciosa. Either way a very cool plant, massive fronds esp. for a Liv. Would make great thatch material... Geoff have you ever been to Sam Sweet's? His place would be quite the pictorial if available.

[Kris]

Dear Geoff

Beautiful stills,but i would have loved to see the trunk scars to decide what livistona that one is.But it does look more like a L.Saribus to me which is very common to south east asia.But i could be wrong in this I.D.

Love,

kris