What Are The Rarest Palms at the Time?

[PalmTreeDude]

At the time, what are some of the rarest palms? I know Tectiphiala ferox is up there, if not the rarest. But what else? Anyone own some of these rare palms that they could share photos of with us? 

[Hammer]

Hyophorbe amaricaulis

[GottmitAlex]

Juania Australis.... (Joan of the South) 

[Moose]

In habitat or cultivation?

[PalmTreeDude]

1 hour ago, Moose said:

In habitat or cultivation?

Cultivation.

[Pal Meir]

Lytocaryum itapebiense (Syagrus itapebiensis):

[Hammer]

Clinosperma lanuginosa

[PalmatierMeg]

Lodoicea maldivica

Juania australis

Cyphokentia cerifera

Cyphokentia fulcita

Hemithrinax ekmaniana

Roystonea violacea

[Kim]

Voanioala gerardii

[kurt decker]

I would say what's rarest are the palms that still are not fruiting in cultivation. Plenty are, and unlike 20 years ago, some of what were the rarest things, like for instance hemithrinax or licuala mapu, actually there are thousands of plants in cultivation now. Seed collected in the wild is far more random. A collector spends the money to go there, and has to collect the seed then, no matter the stage of ripeness. And then they have to travel back to wherever they came from so it can sit around for a while. With cultivated trees, the seed is picked at its prime and processed and distributed pretty much immediately, leading to much better germination. Once things are fruiting in cultivation, they aren't really rare anymore. And that's a good thing

[knell]

some eye candy for this thread, Jeffs amazing Cyphokentia cerifera:

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Pritchardiopsis jeanneneyi from New Caledonia.  I saw a seedling at Fairchild about 35 years ago, but that’s my only tactile exposure to the species.

[Darold Petty]

In cultivation, I know of only two locations for the colorful form of Geonoma undata; at LandsEndt and at my garden.  Two years ago I visited the exact collection location used  by Dick but it was totally the wrong time of year, not even spadices; much less seed.

Who else  has obtained and grown this palm through Dick Endt ?  I have three plants, two good ones and one that failed to thrive.

[quaman58]

1 hour ago, Darold Petty said:

In cultivation, I know of only two locations for the colorful form of Geonoma undata; at LandsEndt and at my garden.  Two years ago I visited the exact collection location used  by Dick but it was totally the wrong time of year, not even spadices; much less seed.

Who else  has obtained and grown this palm through Dick Endt ?  I have three plants, two good ones and one that failed to thrive.

So knowing next to nothing about this species Darold, how old are yours? I'm assuming that yours have not yet flowered; do you know how old they'd have to be to do so? That is one beautiful stem.

[Darold Petty]

I purchased my three palms from LandsEndt in year 2000 as 1-gallon sized bare root plants.  I did not have a permit for plant importation, but 'borrowed' a permit label from my late friend, Inge Hoffmann. I planted the first one in 2001, it now has 3m (10 feet) of true trunk.  Mine have not yet flowered.  Supposedly the LandsEndt palms have flowered numerous times but have failed to set seed. 

[Silas_Sancona]

Two from Mexico (I'm sure there are others)

Cryosophila nana. From dry forest regions along the Pacific coast, Sinaloa-south, may also occur in the far southeastern corner of Sonora. Only in-cultivation specimens I can recall are at the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens. Thought someone here had mentioned growing it in the past?? Wish it were more widely available.

Synechanthus fibrosus. Don't recall ever seeing a thread on this one here on the forum. 

[Darold Petty]

Two palms from Peru that almost certainly would grow in coastal California,  Euterpe luminosa and Geonoma trigona.  If I knew when seeds were mature I would make a special trip for collection ! 

[richnorm]

5 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

I purchased my three palms from LandsEndt in year 2000 as 1-gallon sized bare root plants.  I did not have a permit for plant importation, but 'borrowed' a permit label from my late friend, Inge Hoffmann. I planted the first one in 2001, it now has 3m (10 feet) of true trunk.  Mine have not yet flowered.  Supposedly the LandsEndt palms have flowered numerous times but have failed to set seed. 

They have started setting seed.  I have been told they are sterile but never got around to checking myself.   

[LJG]

On 4/19/2018, 7:20:35, PalmTreeDude said:

At the time, what are some of the rarest palms? I know Tectiphiala ferox is up there, if not the rarest. But what else? Anyone own some of these rare palms that they could share photos of with us? 

Rare in cultivation or habitat? 

[Palmsbro]

On 4/20/2018, 6:26:16, PalmTreeDude said:

Cultivation.

 

15 minutes ago, LJG said:

Rare in cultivation or habitat? 

There ya go.

[LJG]

11 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

In cultivation, I know of only two locations for the colorful form of Geonoma undata; at LandsEndt and at my garden.  Two years ago I visited the exact collection location used  by Dick but it was totally the wrong time of year, not even spadices; much less seed.

Who else  has obtained and grown this palm through Dick Endt ?  I have three plants, two good ones and one that failed to thrive.

Certainly a rare palm in cultivation. Love this palm Darold and hope to see in person some day. I bought seed years ago and not a single one germinated. 

[Josh-O]

On 4/21/2018, 4:26:21, knell said:

some eye candy for this thread, Jeffs amazing Cyphokentia cerifera:

If I recall I drank a beer under that tree when I was there last

[PalmTreeDude]

On 4/21/2018, 7:26:21, knell said:

some eye candy for this thread, Jeffs amazing Cyphokentia cerifera:

 

On 4/22/2018, 10:06:23, Darold Petty said:

In cultivation, I know of only two locations for the colorful form of Geonoma undata; at LandsEndt and at my garden.  Two years ago I visited the exact collection location used  by Dick but it was totally the wrong time of year, not even spadices; much less seed.

Who else  has obtained and grown this palm through Dick Endt ?  I have three plants, two good ones and one that failed to thrive.

These look sweet! Ahh! I wish I could grow these here! Outside, that is. 

[realarch]

On 4/22/2018, 6:17:19, Silas_Sancona said:

Two from Mexico (I'm sure there are others)

Cryosophila nana. From dry forest regions along the Pacific coast, Sinaloa-south, may also occur in the far southeastern corner of Sonora. Only in-cultivation specimens I can recall are at the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens. Thought someone here had mentioned growing it in the past?? Wish it were more widely available.

Synechanthus fibrosus. Don't recall ever seeing a thread on this one here on the forum. 

I don't recall Synechanthus fibrosis on the forum either. 

They are alive and well here in East Hawaii. Here's one I really need to get into the ground. Still looks great in it's pot though. 

Tim

[hbernstein]

On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2018‎ ‎12‎:‎17‎:‎19‎, Silas_Sancona said:

Two from Mexico (I'm sure there are others)

Cryosophila nana. From dry forest regions along the Pacific coast, Sinaloa-south, may also occur in the far southeastern corner of Sonora. Only in-cultivation specimens I can recall are at the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens. Thought someone here had mentioned growing it in the past?? Wish it were more widely available.

Synechanthus fibrosus. Don't recall ever seeing a thread on this one here on the forum. 

D'asign Source, a Florida Nursery, had them for sale a few years ago.

There are some that are trunking size at Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. They are doing great. A very charming palm that, hopefully, will become more available. The species is an easy, adaptable grower.

[richnorm]

On 4/24/2018, 8:09:40, realarch said:

I don't recall Synechanthus fibrosis on the forum either. 

 

They grow well here and are quite widely grown. Here we call them the jelly bean palm.

[humangenomaproject]

Should be plenty of fresh Geonoma Undata seed in Colombia (supposedly in forests just outside of Cali). Maybe that is the key to good germination?

[Darold Petty]

These will most likely be all green.  I believe the reddish form is only from the one locality in southern Ecuador. 

I concur that freshness is important in this genus.  In 1996 I germinated a good crop of G. weberbaueri, picked from the spadix myself and sown within one week.  

[sarasota alex]

1 hour ago, Darold Petty said:

These will most likely be all green.  I believe the reddish form is only from the one locality in southern Ecuador. 

To support what Darold said - last March I spent a week in Northern Ecuador and saw plenty of Geonoma undata on both the Eastern and the Western slopes of the Andes. No red ones. The colors ranged from brownish yellow to yellowish green (see picture), but no red. Beautiful palms nevertheless. No ripe Geonoma seeds anywhere at that time

[realarch]

Look at those beautiful leaves! Some Geonoma are no small things either.

Thanks for the photo too.

Tim

[sarasota alex]

Some more Geonoma undata pics from Ecuador. Both from from the Napo province at about 2000m elevation.

Mountainside forest dominated by G. undata and Prestoea acuminata var. acuminata

Emergent G. undata with a few Chamaedorea linearis scattered around

[ActualTrachycarpus]

On 4/24/2018, 7:02:44, hbernstein said:

D'asign Source, a Florida Nursery, had them for sale a few years ago.

There are some that are trunking size at Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. They are doing great. A very charming palm that, hopefully, will become more available. The species is an easy, adaptable grower.

I live in Chicago and Garfield park is my favorite place to visit. Their Cryosophila nana as you said are still thriving. They also have a huge Scheela palm which is also rare.

[hbernstein]

15 hours ago, ActualTrachycarpus said:

I live in Chicago and Garfield park is my favorite place to visit. Their Cryosophila nana as you said are still thriving. They also have a huge Scheela palm which is also rare.

Scheelea=Attalea. Not rare, but definitely rare under glass! That big mama was hitting the conservatory roof at 65 feet. It might be the largest or at least most massive palm currently under glass worldwide. The seed originated from a Field Museum collecting trip to habitat in the 1920's.

[sarasota alex]

2 hours ago, hbernstein said:

Scheelea=Attalea. Not rare, but definitely rare under glass! That big mama was hitting the conservatory roof at 65 feet. It might be the largest or at least most massive palm currently under glass worldwide. The seed originated from a Field Museum collecting trip to habitat in the 1920's.

This 200+ year old Livistona australis in the Fomin Botanical Garden Greenhouse in Kyiv, Ukraine is over 100ft tall and is likely the tallest indoor palm (or possibly even the tallest indoor plant for that matter) in the world.

[John in Andalucia]

I'm pretty sure Lavoixia macrocarpa (Clinosperma macrocarpa) is a contender. Len didn't mention it - although it's in his avatar, so I will.

It's certainly a tough one to germinate, and both Len and I have had our successes and failures with this species. Has anyone else tried since? 

RPS have seeds available again. Six or so years ago they gifted me four seeds to document my attempts at cultivation. Germination was the easy part for me, but I was moving to Peru at the time, and taking them with me they didn't survive. I've kindly asked Toby if he's willing to let me try again with a couple of seeds. This time I'd like to sprout one and give it to Kew Gardens, just down the road from me. Here's hoping.  I can't justify the cost to myself for 10 seeds, although I'm very tempted.  

[planty]

Hi, sorry to highjack the thread, but would you say that Licuala Grandis is rare? I know it's not possible to get this in shop, but I mean rare in a way that it is hard to get hands on for a regular (not collector) person. Interested to hear your thoughts!