Name this palm game

[sur4z]

How about a chamaerops humilis or a Pigafetta?

[sarasota alex]

I thought L. saribus as well, but having read what Matty said, I'm thinking Elaeis guineensis

[virtualpalm]

oooooooo that sounds like a challange to me!!! so im guessing i was wrong with l.saribus???

Yep

[virtualpalm]

No guesses have been correct so far.

Jody

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Pholidocarpus?

[virtualpalm]

Pholidocarpus?

Nope. But good guess, Jerry.

Jody

[Jason in Orlando]

Livistona decora?

[sarasota alex]

Can I have two more guesses - Syagrus schizophilla or Saribus rotundifolius (there I used it in a sentence)?

[MattyB]

I'm stumped then. I thought it was Syagrus schizophilla for sure.

[virtualpalm]

Sorry, Jason & Alex... no go.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

I'm stumped then. I thought it was Syagrus schizophilla for sure.

I was kinda thinkin' you were going in that direction. Would it help if I say this palm is clumping?

Jody

[Stevetoad]

Clumping....Licuala spinosa....

[virtualpalm]

Clumping....Licuala spinosa....

Ding, ding, ding... give that man a prize! Good job, Steve.

Jody

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Hooo boy, I should have gotten that, considering the number of times this palm stuck me. The close-up pic suggested (to me, anyway) a much larger trunk.

[virtualpalm]

Well, Jerry, here is a chance to redeem yourself!

Jody

[sarasota alex]

Ravenea glauca?

[MattyB]

Clumping....Licuala spinosa....

Ding, ding, ding... give that man a prize! Good job, Steve.

Jody

Nice! I was moving onto Salacca and didn't even think about Licuala. Can you guys grow Salacca in Florida?

[MattyB]

OK, so for guessing game #3 I'm gonna guess Ravenea rivularis.

[MattyB]

I'm gonna throw one into the ring as well. Can you guess the name of this palm? The two palms in the background are a helpful clue.

[Stevetoad]

hedyscepe canterburyana...

[Stevetoad]

oops hedyscepe canterburyana for matts and i think r. rivularis as well

[MattyB]

Nope, not Hedyscepy, good guess though...if you think wrong answers are good.

[virtualpalm]

Nice! I was moving onto Salacca and didn't even think about Licuala. Can you guys grow Salacca in Florida?

I have a Salacca zalacca for many years. It got pretty big. I can't remember what happened to it. It died either from a cold winter or too little water during a dry spell. But certainly in the right place and with sufficient water, we can grow them here.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

Not a Ravenea.

Jody

[Ken Johnson]

mattyB is howea belmoriana?

[MattyB]

Nope Ken, not H. belmoreana, it wouldn't have a crownshaft. Those are H. forsteriana in the background though.

[MattyB]

So Jody's is not a Ravenea. Hmmmmmmmm. How about Orania palindan?

[Ken Johnson]

oh ho i know its from lord howe

um um '

ok someone help me

lep

[Ken Johnson]

jody is it a cocosoid?

[virtualpalm]

I don't think so, but I am not a palm taxonomist.

Jody

[MattyB]

Mine is not from Lord Howe Island. The pic was take in San Diego at a garden.

[sarasota alex]

Jody, Oraniopsis appendiculata? I saw one in San Fran and it was sorta Ravenea-like

[Ken Johnson]

MattyB carpoxylon?

[MattyB]

Great guess Ken, I always think Carpoxylon when I see this pic! But not correct. I actually think that this palm can look very similar to Carpoxylon, but one major difference is that it grows very well in our SoCal climate.

[Stevetoad]

Mine is not from Lord Howe Island. The pic was take in San Diego at a garden.

how are they a clue then???

[MattyB]

If you see Howea then you know that the pic was probably not taken in a tropical climate and therefore that narrows it down. You haven't learned the art of background clues yet? I remember when I I.D.'d a Pseudophoenix that looked a lot like Dypsis decipiens because I noticed that the walls in the background were made from limestone; an obvious SoFla or Carribean clue.

[Ken Johnson]

ugh. I knew its in Cali but what, what...

we know its pinatte, curving leaf, thinish trunk with congested leaf scars due to slow groth in cali.

Pacific palm? Clinostygma savorianum?

[Ken Johnson]

An Jody your thing looks like a mad moutian coconut?

[Stevetoad]

i have much to learn oh wise one

[MattyB]

ugh. I knew its in Cali but what, what...

we know its pinatte, curving leaf, thinish trunk with congested leaf scars due to slow groth in cali.

Pacific palm? Clinostygma savorianum?

OK Ken, you're workin' it. Not Clinostigma though, think further south, but another good guess. You're right, the congested leaf scars are due to slow growth, but not because it's growing in California. This is incicative to the genus, of which I'm pretty sure there's only two named species, with several different named forms.