Dwarf Areca Catechu--fingers crossed!

[Gbarce]

notice it?

Here'a better view

This is just the second time it's flowered. The first time-- no seeds formed. Here's hoping that I get seeds this time around

[Bill Austin]

Looks good Gene good luck with the seed

[Gileno Machado]

Good luck, Gene. It would be interesting if you put the whole batch to germinate so we could find out the approximate percentage of true dwarves in the seedlings.

By the way, my curiosity...have you ever tried chewing up these seeds? Is it really a sort of mouth amnestesic?

[doranakandawatta]

Good looking palm, Gene!

How old is that palm?

In Doranakanda and in Sri Lanka, we are used to normal Areca catechu which are High Speed palms!

[Gbarce]

Gileno-- yes that would be a good experiment. I am curious to see how many turn out o be true dwarf, semi -dwarf and normal. It would take about 5 years to get conclusive statistics though. That's IF these flowers actually mature into seeds.

Doranakandawatta - I got this as a one and a half foot seedling and it's been in the ground maybe 6 years now.

[PalmatierMeg]

Great news, Gene. Can't wait for mine to flower. And I hope you get seeds this time. Do you know what % of seeds produce a dwarf palm? Anyone?

Phillippe, I got mine as a 1g about 5 years ago and it now has 12" of trunk.They aren't slow but probably not as fast as "normal" betel nuts.

[Jeff Searle]

Gene,

That's exciting. Mine flowered a few times and then last year produced 14 seeds. 8 of them germinated and are still 2 leafers. The next bract that came along is now holding about 40 large green seeds, so much more.

I have about 60 plants that I germinated from seed that I got out of Thailand. Their in a 1 gallon, but only about 5 or so look like their going to be of good form. So pretty disappointed, but we'll see.

[Mandrew968]

Out of 15 seed I got, I have about 5 or so that look like they may be true dwarf form.

[Gbarce]

Jeff and Mandrew--Pictures? I am always interested in seeing examples of these palms in the early stages-- in their "puberty years"-- Just before they reveal if they are true dwarfs or not.