The other bottle palm... Gaussia princeps

[Tracy]

So I have not seen much about the other bottle palm, the Gaussia princeps.  Mine has been growing for close to 3 years, and is slow but consistent with only a couple of new fronds per year.  I know they like heat, which is why I planted mine in front of a west facing wall, so it would get both the afternoon sun and the reflected heat of the afternoon sun.  I have sandy well drained soil, which they also appreciate.  If you are growing this palm, please share your photos and growth experience.

[realarch]

Gee, what a great looking little palm. The swollen base and persistent leaf sheaths give it a distinctive look.

Tim

[PalmatierMeg]

That is the nicest of the Gaussias and sort of hard to find. My larger one died last year but I have a smaller one. I will take photos later.

[GDLWyverex]

Mine, I think, is a  gaussia gomez-pompae  which looks a whole lot like your g.ptinceps.

I Would call it a stately grower giving me 3 fronds a year, I live in México and it is in full blast sun and receives a moderate amount of water, living in a 350 litre tub of very well drained soil. During the spring time it gets very hot, while now it is very warm. It never gets cold, though when the temp drops to 50 everyone hereabouts wears every stitch of clothing that they own wandering about muttering about the Arctic weather.

 

Richard

 

[Palm Tree Jim]

I will take a picture later of mine.

As you pointed out, a slow grower for me as well but consistent. 3-4 fronds a year, and year round growth.

[aztropic]

Here's my Gaussia princeps.One thing I've noted with the entire Gaussia species is that they as a group are the only palm species I have that excessively "pulls toward the light". Not a good species to plant near a wall...

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

Trunk shots of Gaussia princeps and Gaussia gomez-pompae.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[DoomsDave]

I’ve found Gaussia princeps to appreciate plenty of sun, heat and well drained soil.

Alas, they also appear to need a lot more water than I gave them. 

[NatureGirl]

Thanks for this topic, I love Gaussia, however, I seem to be in a minority. In fact a lot of people have told me they are downright ugly. But not me. I'll admit they tend to be a bit sparse as far as leaves go. But they do great on the beach here, except G. maya, which went over twice, once in Hurricane Matthew, the other fatal blow, from Irma. Also, Gaussia have a lot of cold hardiness to them more than you think. In fact, in the cold winter of 2010, I had just planted my Gaussia princeps from a small 3 gal pot. Several days later a hard freeze was expected here ( a rarity). I refuse to dig it up even though it would have been easy to do so . It hit 29F that night and we continued to have one of the coldest winters ever, where i lost a lot of mature palms. But not G. princeps, a few spots on the leaves and it sailed right though and hasn't skipped a beat since. First photo G. princeps, second G. gomez-pompae

[GDLWyverex]

47 minutes ago, aztropic said:

Trunk shots of Gaussia princeps and Gaussia gomez-pompae.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Other than size, I don't see a whole lot of difference. What are the differentiating characteristics?

 

Richard

[aztropic]

Not much difference on trunk.Once they grow some trunk and lose the bottle bulge,they are actually kinda ugly in my opinion.Frond wise,princeps is prettier than gomez-pompae with thicker,greener,leaflets spaced much closer together.

Another thing I have against Gaussia species,for me at least,is that they are the only species I have that spots up quite a bit every winter,while none of my other palms do.There are definitely better choices out there than Gaussia...

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Tracy]

31 minutes ago, aztropic said:

they are the only species I have that spots up quite a bit every winter,while none of my other palms do.

Interesting.  I haven't had much problem with winter spotting here.  Regarding the propensity to growing toward a heat source (wall), if mine does, it will gain an interesting arch in the lower trunk.  Once it grows above the heat source it would stop pulling back to the wall I assume and grow more toward the hottest part of the day, the westerly sun.  My block portion of the wall there is only about 35" high, with vinyl above which isn't as much a heat sink as the concrete blocks too.  As a small palm I like the interesting bulging trunk, and if it gets ugly over time it doesn't look like it will be too difficult to extract.

[GDLWyverex]

1 hour ago, aztropic said:

they are actually kinda ugly in my opinion.

Another thing I have against Gaussia species,for me at least,is that they are the only species I have that spots up quite a bit every winter,while none of my other palms do.There are definitely better choices out there than Gaussia...

In the eye of the beholder and all that. I went up to look at the fronds on mine and the older, 3 and 4 year old, fronds do have a few rust like blotches on their fronds. Kind of an assurance that they aren't plastic artificial specimens.

 

Richard

[Palm Tree Jim]

As promised, a picture of my princeps.

[Hilo Jason]

Gaussia Princeps is such a cool palm!  I tried and killed a couple in my Fallbrook garden after seeing them in Florida. Made me think of a Pseudophoenix crossed with a Royal.

Maybe I should try one here in Hilo. Does anyone here on the Big Island have any experience with these?

 

[Josh-O]

1 minute ago, Hilo Jason said:

Gaussia Princeps is such a cool palm!  I tried and killed a couple in my Fallbrook garden after seeing them in Florida. Made me think of a Pseudophoenix crossed with a Royal.

Maybe I should try one here in Hilo. Does anyone here on the Big Island have any experience with these?

 

I bet your not growing them in Hawaii 

[Caribbean Palms]

Gaussia princeps growing in my garden in S. Florida. It's about 20 - 22 years from seed. No supplemental water after it was established and on a small mound with p rock (oolitic limestone) added to increase the pH.

[mike in kurtistown]

"not growing them in Hawaii"? That sounds like a challenge. Here are two that I planted in January 2014. I forgot my orange bucket, but the first is about7 feet (longest frond), and the second is about 6 ft. I planted a couple others that are not doing as well or have been swallowed up by the uluhe fern.

And, just for good measure, I attach a picture of my group of Gaussia gomez-pompei, planted out in January 2010.

 

[NatureGirl]

Nice Mike (both of you), those look great!

[Hilo Jason]

9 hours ago, mike in kurtistown said:

"not growing them in Hawaii"? That sounds like a challenge. Here are two that I planted in January 2014. I forgot my orange bucket, but the first is about7 feet (longest frond), and the second is about 6 ft. I planted a couple others that are not doing as well or have been swallowed up by the uluhe fern.

And, just for good measure, I attach a picture of my group of Gaussia gomez-pompei, planted out in January 2010.

 

Nice to see these on the big island. Now I just need to track one down here. Thanks Mike!

[Palmfan]

This is my tree, about 6 years planted from a 3 gallon.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, Palmfan said:

This is my tree, about 6 years planted from a 3 gallon.

Looks like it is a super fast grower for you if it has done that in 6 years.

[NatureGirl]

Ok, you win Martin!  That thing looks like it is on steroids! Looks nice with all the old leaf bases removed.

[tacobender]

I just recently found out mine were gaussia. They are used at my place as wind buffers. Handle a difficult saltly wind just fine.

[politoCABJ]

Awesome pics! I spotted this palm growing next to a neighbor's house and I often wondered whether its a regular bottle palm (lots of them around here) or something else. Now that I've seen this post it would be great if anyone could confirm. Any chance this is a Gaussia? Thanks!

[aztropic]

Just a regular Hyophorbe bottle palm.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[TomJ]

BUMP !!!

Can I see updates...  pictures.....

Think they would stand a chance in heavier but draining soil??

 

[Valhallalla]

These three guys showed up a few months ago in the refurbished landscape bed of a medical office complex next to a major road. Initially I thought they might be Pseudophoenix vinifera but they didn't look quite right and that also seemed rather unlikely. Kurt Decker helped to ID them as G. princeps. It would have been much cooler had they turned out to be viniferas but at least they are something other than one of the two dozen or so palm species that are most commonly used in our landscape here.

[Stevetoad]

I’m conflicted on my feelings about this palm. 

[aztropic]

I agree... Crowns are always kinda sparce but they do grow well in the desert, and look great with less than a foot of trunk.Regardless,I have a bunch of Gaussia started from seed and they're cute with swollen bottle bases...

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona