school me on cuban royal palms - is there a special type that I should try to find ?

[Cedric]

Ya all have to move to Palm Springs where they have created one large micro climate sponge of precious water Keep the palms low, some lovely trunkless tropicals.

When I see palms in Florida Im always wondering how they get them to grow so well with so much nasty poor soil around? Thats why BTW I am an avid reader of any info from Florida cause once they get it right then far as feeding is concerned so can we all, for me that means palms still in pots. Once in the ground my soil takes over for most of them.

[Central Floridave]

Royal palms in Vero Beach (near dave-vero's house).

[Central Floridave]

.

[Central Floridave]

.

[Central Floridave]

.

[Don Little]

Regia's do very well in many parts of so cal and although they may not look quite a nice as the ones in more humid environments they can look pretty close. Case in point South Coast Plaza where you have aprox 100 that look very nice and monstrous I might add and have grown relatively quickly. Mine has about 5 feet of fat pillar like trunk and with all the crazy winds we've had, only the lower few leaves dried out, other than that the others look surprisingly well. When mine was smaller the leaves would usually look worse at the end of winter but true to what some on this forum had said, it toughened up as as it got bigger. I water mine a little bit more than some my others even in winter which could also explain why the leaves hold up fairly well even with the winds. My observations anyway

[TropicalDude]

There is a reason why the Cuban Royal is the most widely planted. But Oleracea is more impressive being so tall. It grows a more regular looking straight trunk giving the palm a more exotic very elongated form. The crown appears perhaps somewhat "cuter" suspended above the crownshaft. Sort of a more "femenine" look.

However a well kept Cuban Royal specimen will grow into the more elegant and robust looking palm, with a better proportioned ratio of crown size to trunk height. That's why fully grown it looks better than Oleracea near buildings. There is no better palm next to older architecture than a Cuban Royal. The R. Regia trunk also seems to keep a "cleaner" look than R. Oleracea in more tropical humid climates.

[Takil-Explorer]

About Roystonea olearacea in Brasil, you see them a lot in those old colonial towns on the Costa Verde and in Rio de Janeiro. For example the avenue with old ones in the jardim botanico. They where planted as a states symbol in frond of the big houses and palaces of rich people. Well if you google for Parati you get a good example.

Some chap had introduced them to Brasil in the 1800 from one of the French colonies. Strange enough not from northern Venezuela where they grow wild.

Well they are stunning palms! More majestic then R. regia.

In Brasil they cal them palmas imperias, imperial palms.

Alexander

[Cedric]

common border with Colombia where they are mainly found wild I thought? Locve to see some pictures of those TE will look up those towns.

[Takil-Explorer]

Here those Roystonea oleracea in Brasil. The picture of famous avenue in the Jardim botanico in Rio.

Alexander

[Takil-Explorer]

Another one in with Roystonea oleracea in an old colonial town in Brasil. There where even morpho flying there, the big blue butterfly.

Alexander

[MOSES JONES]

Anyone growing a Cuban Royal Palm in San Francisco?

[Ben in Norcal]

22 minutes ago, MOSES JONES said:

Anyone growing a Cuban Royal Palm in San Francisco?

If by "growing" you mean "sticking it in the ground and expecting it to die," then I qualify.

There's a few multi-year plants in the area.  For instance: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/37862-the-lonesome-royal-of-cambrian-park/

[RedRabbit]

13 minutes ago, Ben in Norcal said:

If by "growing" you mean "sticking it in the ground and expecting it to die," then I qualify.

There's a few multi-year plants in the area.  For instance: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/37862-the-lonesome-royal-of-cambrian-park/

LOL

I'm pullin for ya Ben! 

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

The one on the left is what you want.   The top photo gives a true prospective on just how much taller that one is than the other 3 near it.   It's a good 70-feet.   They look a lot more close together in the second pic because of the angle .   That's not even the biggest one in that neighborhood either.   That neighbors was built in the 50s so I would bet some of the palms there have been there nearly as long.  There are some Jamaican tall cocoa there that are pushing 80 feet easily.  

The crown of this tallest royal in the pic is visible from 2-3 blocks away.  It's trunk is massive.  

One thing I noticed there and you can see it in these pics is that there appears to be substantial variance in the leaflet sizes from tree to tree.  About half had very thick / fat/ fronds with verywide leaflets like the tallest one here, and the other half have the thinner / less full looking fronds with the substantially thinner leaflets.   Not sore why that is, but it is.    This is in south Florida near Lauderdale by the sea.  

[Pete in Paradise Hills]

11 hours ago, DCA_Palm_Fan said:

The one on the left is what you want.   The top photo gives a true prospective on just how much taller that one is than the other 3 near it.   It's a good 70-feet.   They look a lot more close together in the second pic because of the angle .   That's not even the biggest one in that neighborhood either.   That neighbors was built in the 50s so I would bet some of the palms there have been there nearly as long.  There are some Jamaican tall cocoa there that are pushing 80 feet easily.  

The crown of this tallest royal in the pic is visible from 2-3 blocks away.  It's trunk is massive.  

One thing I noticed there and you can see it in these pics is that there appears to be substantial variance in the leaflet sizes from tree to tree.  About half had very thick / fat/ fronds with verywide leaflets like the tallest one here, and the other half have the thinner / less full looking fronds with the substantially thinner leaflets.   Not sore why that is, but it is.    This is in south Florida near Lauderdale by the sea.  

thanks for clarifying they're in Florida. I know they don't grow in Fairfax County, VA LOL

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

4 hours ago, Pete in Paradise Hills said:

thanks for clarifying they're in Florida. I know they don't grow in Fairfax County, VA LOL

Well....

if I had my way .......  

 

lol!

[imapalmnut64]

I just love the royal palms, they make a very nice statement, these are in downtown punta gorda fl, beautiful

[PalmTreeDude]

36 minutes ago, imapalmnut64 said:

I just love the royal palms, they make a very nice statement, these are in downtown punta gorda fl, beautiful

They give places a happy feel!

[DoomsDave]

Here's Butch, my larges Roystonea regia.

[DoomsDave]

Here's Spanky, my second biggest R. regia, in 2008 on the right.

[DoomsDave]

Here's Spanky more than a year ago. Photos by Josh-O. That's me. I'm not a dwarf. That things dwarfs me, and Butch is even larger.

[Brett in Mission Viejo]

My Roystonia Regia seems to love its location and climate here in Mission Viejo, Ca.  Good summer heat. Maybe estimated 50 feet to the top of the crown. Falling fronds, look out below, including my cars in the driveway! I have been lucky so far:

[DoomsDave]

17 minutes ago, Brett in Mission Viejo said:

My Roystonia Regia seems to love its location and climate here in Mission Viejo, Ca.  Good summer heat. Maybe estimated 50 feet to the top of the crown. Falling fronds, look out below, including my cars in the driveway! I have been lucky so far:

That was a sho nuff neck breaker

Yes sir!

Two years before Butch, and 15 feet taller at least

Wanna S C R E A M

 

[Xerarch]

On January 19, 2012 at 8:14:40 AM, Mandrew968 said:

Royals are not "epic".

False, in fact Royals are quite epic. 

[Pete in Paradise Hills]

1 hour ago, Xerarch said:

False, in fact Royals are quite epic. 

Here in Cali they are kind of rare and make a strong statement. 

[Mandrew968]

Here, everyone has them. Hardly any of them look great. Up in the panhandle, the queens start to look good, so it's all relative... In South Florida, Royals are not epic. There--better statement.

[Mohsen]

On 19 November 2016 at 3:05:34 PM, Brett in Mission Viejo said:

My Roystonia Regia seems to love its location and climate here in Mission Viejo, Ca.  Good summer heat. Maybe estimated 50 feet to the top of the crown. Falling fronds, look out below, including my cars in the driveway! I have been lucky so far:

That's a real beauty,

i wonder any possible danger from falling aged fronds on the house roof or any one might passing ?

[Zeeth]

Seeing them in habitat is always impressive. Some of them are even covered in orchids. 

[Zeeth]

Sometimes the ones out in the Fakahatchee have a purplish crownshaft. 

[Matthew92]

On 11/21/2016, 5:20:52, Mandrew968 said:

Here, everyone has them. Hardly any of them look great. Up in the panhandle, the queens start to look good, so it's all relative... In South Florida, Royals are not epic. There--better statement.

The good ones are simply awesome. Especially around Redland, Homestead, and Florida City.

This Florida var. of Roystonea regia survived Cat 5 winds in Hurricane Andrew. Still straight as a light-post- it has grown even taller since this picture was taken around 1995.

https://www.google.de/maps/dir/25.4474647,-80.4765963/25.4474066,-80.4765963/@25.446324,-80.4763952,579m/data=!3m1!1e3

[DoomsDave]

On 1/19/2012, 5:14:40, Mandrew968 said:

Royals are not "epic". Having said that, oleracea is my favorite and it's not from Cuba. Oleracea is also the most cold sensitive, but has the best leaves and most impressive size.

Hmm. Beg to differ. Taken for granted is more like it, though I respect the reasons. (CIDPs are epic, too!)

The falling leaves are, if not epic, than certain to cause a stir, particularly those they happen to fall upon . . . .

[Brett in Mission Viejo]

8 hours ago, Mohsen said:

That's a real beauty,

i wonder any possible danger from falling aged fronds on the house roof or any one might passing ?

Thanks! I do worry about my car and/or someone that might be hit standing in the drive way. But I have noticed that the fronds about to fall off have already popped off the crown shaft and are hanging straight down from where the boot is attached to the trunk at the leaf scar ring, so they tend to fall close to the tree trunk in the lawn or adjacent palms. But when the wind picks up, they can go just about anywhere. I estimate 6-8 releases a year and all have missed my cars and have only had minor frond damage to adjacent palms.

[Mandrew968]

16 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Hmm. Beg to differ. Taken for granted is more like it, though I respect the reasons. (CIDPs are epic, too!)

The falling leaves are, if not epic, than certain to cause a stir, particularly those they happen to fall upon . . . .

Maybe... I just don't see many that are grown to their potential, or kind of like you said, I don't look for them... vast majority of royals down here are in too dry of rock and there is blight in the crown.

[Mohsen]

I was driving today and saw this one, 

it is not very common in Sydney or at least i have not seen many...

it is inland Sydney the same weather we have so they should be cold hardy enough here to give them a try

[Zeeth]

On 11/22/2016, 1:16:48, Opal92 said:

The good ones are simply awesome. Especially around Redland, Homestead, and Florida City.

This Florida var. of Roystonea regia survived Cat 5 winds in Hurricane Andrew. Still straight as a light-post- it has grown even taller since this picture was taken around 1995.

https://www.google.de/maps/dir/25.4474647,-80.4765963/25.4474066,-80.4765963/@25.446324,-80.4763952,579m/data=!3m1!1e3

Thanks for the map link! I'd like to get seeds from that one sometime. 

[DavidLee]

Here is a photo of a very beautiful Cuban Royal Palm at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. This Royal really stands out from the rest.  There must be a several hundred Royals on FAU's and Palm Beach State College's Boca Raton campus. I have mix feelings of Royals in South Florida. Some do look good and some not so good.  I think the ones that impress me the most are really old ones with a large healthy crown. I am not crazy how some plantings of them are crowded in a straight row.

[DavidLee]

In this photo I believe are Roystonea borinquena but not 100% sure. I know for sure they are not regias. The flowers on them are a pale yellow not creamy white like on regias.

[DavidLee]

Here is a very old Royal at McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach. It is impressive to me because you can see it a mile away down the road. It is a 9 out of a 10 in real life. It is also has survived some very bad freezes.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2016 by DavidLee

[DavidLee]