BRAHEA, Mexican Blue palm

[Mohsen]

recently I got a nice palm from Steve, which labelled BRAHEA, Mexican Blue palm ( left) ...Today I was potting it up and I noticed it is very similar to my Syagrus romanzoffiana ( right) ?

are they similar when seedling?

[Peter G]

Mexican blue palm is the common name for Brahea Armata, and they are blue as seedlings. 

[gyuseppe]

Mohsen perhaps your brahea is Brahea brandegeei

[Josh-O]

they look similar in leaf structure when young but, more blue like Peter mentioned.

[Mohsen]

Thanks, the tag says Glauca , I guess?!

[Phoenikakias]

Leaves in the picture look to soft for a Brahea, but again shade and/or increased air moisture can change dramatically the appearance of a palm.

[Mohsen]

the right one I am sure is a Syagrus romanzoffiana ....the left also very similar to a Syagrus but must be a Brahea !

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Thats not a brahea armata. I have over 1500 armata and clara ranging from seedling to 36" box and they look nothing like that. 

[Tom in Tucson]

4 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

Thats not a brahea armata. I have over 1500 armata and clara ranging from seedling to 36" box and they look nothing like that. 

I agree. If you look at the full size image you can see the large vein of the largest leaves on the right. This is clearly the way strap leaves should look on a pinnate palm. Mohsen, check with Steve on it's origin.

Tom Birt - Casas Adobes, AZ

Hi 94°, Lo 64°
 

[Pal Meir]

The left one has windows in the blade so that I guess it is (also) a Syagrus romanzoffiana:

[Steve Mac]

This is one that I remember exactly where I got the seed from. It was from the Presidents garden in Malta. In July '13.

 

[gyuseppe]

3 hours ago, gtsteve said:

This is one that I remember exactly where I got the seed from. It was from the Presidents garden in Malta. In July '13.

 

Brahea armata  form with green leaves

[Pal Meir]

10 hours ago, gtsteve said:

This is one that I remember exactly where I got the seed from. It was from the Presidents garden in Malta. In July '13.

Perhaps a cuckoo’s egg … er … seed?

[Mohsen]

12 hours ago, gtsteve said:

This is one that I remember exactly where I got the seed from. It was from the Presidents garden in Malta. In July '13.

 

 

thanks Steve

I will update this thread in future to see its development ...

[Steve Mac]

20 hours ago, Pal Meir said:

Perhaps a cuckoo’s egg … er … seed?

Yes it is possible mate, Seeds can be moved around in gardens of course, but I only collected two other seed types on that trip, (knowingly), could that plant in question be one of these?

While my record keeping efforts have never been considered even adequate by most standards, and when our granddaughter rearranges the names in the pots Lizzy believes that she corrects more errors than she creates, so propagating for me is just a series of wonderful surprises. But I would not deliberately grow a Queen and I would usually recognize that seed if I saw it, and for how slowly that plant has been growing, I would bet that it is not a Syagrus. But if it is not what I thought that it was, well anything else could be on the table.  Even the original sign on the Latania was an obsolete name and incorrectly spelt. Mohsen the story of the discovery of the palm type will be an interesting story for your grandchildren, it is from the President's garden in Malta.  

 

[Pal Meir]

The leaves with windows like of the left palm are also typical for Butia, Jubaea and the like. So if it is not a S. romanzoffiana perhaps a Butia (bluish?) what would also explain the slower growth. But it is definitely not a fan palm as @Tom in Tucson already stated above.

[Phoenikakias]

Hey Mo. these are pictures of juvenile Brahea spp growing in situ fro naturally germinated seeds. Common in all cases is that seedlings started forming divided leaves quite quickly and strap leaves never reach that size.

Brahea brandegeii beneath mother tree

Mother tree

Brahea aculeata

A Brahea seedling of one of the above spp

And finally a very young seedling of Brahea armata