Looking for Palm With large Fronds No Trunk

[joe_OC]

6 minutes ago, Tracy said:

About a decade in my experience here in Southern California.  I have one that is about 2 decades old and it started forming trunk close to 10 years ago.  All the same, it is a beautiful palm and for at least that first 8 years will appear to just be erupting from the ground.  Very few non-palm friends would ever guess it was a palm at that size, but they were always curious about it.

Hey Tracy,

 

Can you post a pic of that palm for me?  I've been on the fence about getting one for the longest time.

[BS Man about Palms]

Well, I can throw a vote for the current palm sold as Dypsis "nauseosa".. it was known as Dypsis highland mealybug around here for a long time and hoviendtrina? in other places.  You can see the current status of "trunk" after being in the ground about 12 years from a decent 15 gal.. (hard to find at that size) Throwing 10-12' leaves.. no trunk yet. Warning partial shade is best, leaves will easily burn without a Looooong acclimation.

[Tracy]

6 hours ago, joe_OC said:

Can you post a pic of that palm for me?  I've been on the fence about getting one for the longest time.

Sabal mauritiiformis now and in 2009, which was several years after I planted it from a 1 gallon.

[joe_OC]

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

Sabal mauritiiformis now and in 2009, which was several years after I planted it from a 1 gallon.

Great looking palm!  I think I need this palm in my garden.

[Merlyn]

Leu Gardens has a big mauritiiformis, probably about 25-30 feet tall in the Tropical Stream Garden area.  It's pretty impressive and has fans over 6 foot diameter.  I didn't realize they could handle Central Florida weather.  I read they are fairly hardy but not quite as much as the other common FL Sabals.  From Brahea Axel's post:

"There are two Caribbean species (S.mauritiiformis and S.yapa) and though not as hardy as the others they have been cultivated to mature status throughout most all of central Fla. Both species seem about equal in hardiness showing foliage damage around 26f (Orl.); mauritiiformis was defoliated @ 22f (Day.) and yapa was severely damaged @ 19f (Mel.) but without total defoliation."

[Merlyn]

I managed to find quite a few palms from my Orlando zone list of "giant fronds."  Allagoptera Caudescens 5G, Arenga Engleri 7G, Copernicia Baileyana and Fallaensis 3G, a Kerriodoxa Elegans 3G all in Orlando, and a small Sabal Mauriitiformis 1G from an eBay seller!  The Caudescens and Engleri are definitely plantable sizes, but I'm planning to keep them all semi-sheltered over the winter in case we get a few bad cold fronts.  Below is a picture of the two bigger ones!

So now all I need to look for is an Arenga Pinnata, Attalea Cohune and a Caryota Gigas/Obtusa. 

[Dave-Vero]

My beautiful Dypsis carlsmithii died.  Its rather vertical leaves and long time to trunking make it a good "hedge" palm.  

Sabal minor is under-planted in Florida.  

 

[realarch]

On 11/24/2018, 12:20:03, BS Man about Palms said:

Well, I can throw a vote for the current palm sold as Dypsis "nauseosa".. it was known as Dypsis highland mealybug around here for a long time and hoviendtrina? in other places.  You can see the current status of "trunk" after being in the ground about 12 years from a decent 15 gal.. (hard to find at that size) Throwing 10-12' leaves.. no trunk yet. Warning partial shade is best, leaves will easily burn without a Looooong acclimation.

 Not adding anything useful to this thread other than to say the color and habit of this palm is quite nice.

Tim

[BS Man about Palms]

Thanks Tim!!

 

[Merlyn]

I think I finally picked up all of my "trunkless monsters" for the yard, but some will take many years before reaching a good size.  I bought 2 pots of Arenga Micrantha from PT user ChuckG, one has 3 fronds about 12-14' tall and the other is about 8' tall, both are trunkless.  I also have several Beccariophoenix Alfredii, which will grow 15-20' tall fronds before forming a trunk.  The Alllagotera Caudescens does something similar when young, growing a ~1 foot trunk and really broad, long fronds before starting to grow a real trunk.  I have a young Sabal Mauriitiformis from an eBay seller in Tampa.  Locally (MB Palms and Leu plant sale) and from MyGardenofDelights.com I bought an Attalea Cohune, Raphia Farinifera and Arenga Pinnata and Livistona Speciosa.  In a shady area the Livistona Speciosa will grow 8-10 foot long petioles with 6 foot diameter fans on top, it's pretty neat!

I also bought "sprouted seeds" of Arenga Pinnata, Attalea Phalerata and Livistona Speciosa from palmseeds.net, most of them survived the trip from Thailand and are growing slowly.  Unfortunately they were out of Arenga Westerhoutii, which is similar to the Pinnata but with wider fronds and possibly slower growing.

I'm sure a few are marginal or not long-term survivors in my 9b-9a area.  The Raphia is probably already dead, and I haven't even received it yet.  Most of the others are known to survive mid 20s, some with no damage and some with serious damage around 25F.  I have high hopes for the Attalea Phalerata, it's supposed to be tougher and faster growing than the Cohune.