Phoenix roebelenii x theophrasti?

[Omeyer72]

Read an excellent thread on work being done in Greece. Am thinking this cross has potential to be a significant leap forwards towards a hardier, more manageable Phoenix appropriate for smaller spaces. Any news on availability? 

Thank you.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Interesting. ...

[_Keith]

I'd be all in to test this one.

[Josh-O]

sounds like a very interesting cross indeed.

I would love to try one

[Omeyer72]

FYI, Giuseppe mentioned he had these in the thread. I PM'd him to hopefully get an update on their progress.

[gyuseppe]

Hello !

2 years ago, Konstantinos from Greece, I had sent a few seeds of this hybrid, unfortunately only 1 turned out to be  a hybrid, others are pure roebelenii
sorry io molto occupato con il lavoro ,not photos

 but history continues .....

this year, again Konstantinos from Greece, in spring ha sent pollen of phoenix theophrasti, pollen has been frozen for about a month at -18 degrees celsius,when flourished one my phoenix roebelenii female, I have  thawed   pollen,is after 2 weeks I have had confirmation that hybridization ok !

unfortunately pollen was little, and few seeds, which we split in half I and konstantinos

[Phoenikakias]

I really wait with anxiety pictures of the hybrid in Giuseppe's hands. Now some details about the reasons for the failure mainly of the first attempt (it's really a very interesting story). I have two robs (male and female) growing closely to each other and because of the lurking borers (rpw and paysandisia) I decided not to remove all male inflorescences (causing thus an oozing wound which attracts the borers) but only those which were developed and full of pollen during the cross pollination procedure. So I had  somehow to take precaution measures to avoid an unwilling self pollination.  To this purpose used bags tied tied tightly around the female inflorescences. And every time I was removing those bags I was taking special care that no pollen containing inflorescence was nearby. But unfortunately I observed that DEW was forming frequently inside the bags with the risk that female flowers could rot. So I had further to remove bags several times for aeration and because I was not sure whether pathogens had already established on the inner walls of the bags, I was turning them inside out before I wrapped them again around the inflorescences . So I strongly suspect that despite the abscence of male inflorescences during the exposure of the female ones pollen, viable pollen, must have stuck on the external wall of the bags, which sef-pollinated the female flowers every time the bags were turned inside out!

As for the collection of pollen from theophrasti this is a dangerous and painful endeavour which requires additionally punctuality. Male inflorescences are namely short and hidden among a dense forest of formidable spines and and every developed inflorescence sheds all pollen within a day or maybe even sooner. This is why so few pollen was available for the new attempt and thus the few fruits.

[Omeyer72]

This is an excellent update from both of you, and I appreciate your giving details on how challenging (and painful) the process has been. 

Your determination and patience may very well provide an extremely desirable new palm offering to the public. I know others and myself would love to see how they perform. While there appears to be issues in getting enough viable seeds - and there is still missing data on ultimate hardiness - I still believe this will be a great achievement in the end.

Thank you again for the latest information , and please keep us informed of your progress.

[Phoenikakias]

A related years long horticultural adventure has finally ended. It began in spring of 2019 with the collection of Phoenix theophrasti's pollen 🤕 continued through summer and winter of same year by cross pollinating a female Phoenix roebelenii and gathering subsequently the resulted seeds and the rest years up to now were spent by growing two hybrids from those seeds to an outplantable size. Yesterday those two special hybrids were planted in to their final spot in my garden keeping company to other two older cousin hybrids (loureiroi x theophrasti).