Ptychosperma schefferi

[Cape Garrett]

One of my favorite suckering palms.  Almost a perfect balanced growth habit while taking up very little garden space.  About 8 feet tall.  Came through Irma last year with just some leaf tear.  Overall a very nice, full palm.  Deep green too.  Fast grower.  Planted out May 2016 from an over potted 3 gallon.

[Palm Tree Jim]

Nice plant indeed.

I was able to acquire one this spring and I hope to have the success you have had!

[Cape Garrett]

2 minutes ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

Nice plant indeed.

I was able to acquire one this spring and I hope to have the success you have had!

I did leave it potted for way too long.  Neglected a bit in it's pot and still looked good  but this has grown flawlessly in the 2 years in the ground.  Good luck with yours.  Very strong grower for me.

[realarch]

Garrett, Gotta love heavy clumping palms, allows you to use it for whatever purpose. Good as a screen, specimen palm, or both. 

I posted this photo earlier under 'Some Green Stuff', showing P. schefferi in a grouping with other palms. I've pruned most of the suckers and it's an attractive palm as a solitary. 

Nice whitish crown shaft. It's the tall palm, rear far left. 

Tim

 

[Cape Garrett]

Very nice.  Like the ti plants too.  Like a colorful ground cover under the palms.

[mike in kurtistown]

Here's my pair, planted from 2-gal pots three years ago. Mine also were in pots too long, and I have others that still are. But they took off as soon as they had the chance. I prefer the full look of the untrimmed clumping specimens.

[Cindy Adair]

Very timely as I have recently enlisted a little P. schefferi to help hold the dirt after my multiple mostly hurricane related landslides.

So I just went down and snapped these photos.

At least I hope that's the correct name of mine as hurricane Maria disturbed many tags.

 

 

Nice to see the different looks in this topic both with and without trimming and different locations, all attractive!

Thanks so much.

[Cape Garrett]

As long as another hurricane doesn't create more slides for you, that little palm will look and hold up nicely in strong winds.

[RedRabbit]

Very nice! I'm curious, where did you get it from? I'm having trouble finding palms in the area.

[Cape Garrett]

16 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

Very nice! I'm curious, where did you get it from? I'm having trouble finding palms in the area.

Searle Brothers nursery Spring sale a few years back.

[Cindy Adair]

2 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

As long as another hurricane doesn't create more slides for you, that little palm will look and hold up nicely in strong winds.

Good to hear.

[miamicuse]

I am planning to put mine into the ground soon.

However I would like a solitary one, does anyone grow Ptychosperma schefferi by clearing the suckers?

[miamicuse]

Just looked up Palmpedia and noticed this.

Description

"Small palm, solitary or clustering, growing from 4.7 to 7 m (15 to 20 ft, sometimes 25 ft) tall. It has dark green leaves, and a whitish covering on the crownshaft, The flowers are white in color and are followed by a dark purple fruit."

So does this mean this palm comes in either solitary variety and clustering variety, or the solitary form is the result of pruning all the suckers?

[Cape Garrett]

11 hours ago, miamicuse said:

I am planning to put mine into the ground soon.

However I would like a solitary one, does anyone grow Ptychosperma schefferi by clearing the suckers?

You can cut the suckers as they grow if it in fact, it does sucker, which I assume it will.  Over time, it will slow down or stop producing suckers as you continue to trim them off.  I did this with a McArthur palm.  My old clumps have only 3 and 4 trunks which I wanted.  They both have not produced suckers in quite a few years now.  It seems as if they get used to you cutting them off and eventually just stop producing them.  My experience anyway.  Did this with a Chamaedorea species too.  One that clumps a lot.  It now only has 8 cane's.  Has not produced anymore in years now.

[miamicuse]

4 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

You can cut the suckers as they grow if it in fact, it does sucker, which I assume it will.  Over time, it will slow down or stop producing suckers as you continue to trim them off.  I did this with a McArthur palm.  My old clumps have only 3 and 4 trunks which I wanted.  They both have not produced suckers in quite a few years now.  It seems as if they get used to you cutting them off and eventually just stop producing them.  My experience anyway.  Did this with a Chamaedorea species too.  One that clumps a lot.  It now only has 8 cane's.  Has not produced anymore in years now.

I will cut the suckers to see if it will stop producing them like yours did.  I have some C. lutescens that I cut suckers off except a half dozen tall canes and three years later the suckers are still coming non-stop lol.

[Cape Garrett]

29 minutes ago, miamicuse said:

I will cut the suckers to see if it will stop producing them like yours did.  I have some C. lutescens that I cut suckers off except a half dozen tall canes and three years later the suckers are still coming non-stop lol.

There's no stopping lutescens.  I had my schefferi cut to 12 trunks several years ago.  It has only sent up 2 more since so I just removed them when they were small.  EZ PZ.  This palm is not as aggressive as lutescens is.  Definitely trainable to what you want it to be.

[Merlyn]

@Cape Garrett that's great info, thanks!  I was considering planting a Schefferi close to the house, and I was hoping it would be controllable like Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus Pembana....and not a wild mess like Lutescens. 

Edit: I forgot to ask...about how big is the "canopy diameter" of a typical trunk?  I saw one place that said fronds were individually 12' long, i.e. 24' total diameter.  That seemed absurdly wrong given some of the pictures.  I was guessing that each trunk might be around 8' diameter?

[Cape Garrett]

53 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

@Cape Garrett that's great info, thanks!  I was considering planting a Schefferi close to the house, and I was hoping it would be controllable like Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus Pembana....and not a wild mess like Lutescens. 

Edit: I forgot to ask...about how big is the "canopy diameter" of a typical trunk?  I saw one place that said fronds were individually 12' long, i.e. 24' total diameter.  That seemed absurdly wrong given some of the pictures.  I was guessing that each trunk might be around 8' diameter?

It is not a large canopy palm at all.  Maybe a bit less than a Christmas palm

[NatureGirl]

My Palm Pal CBLisa gave this to me before she moved to HI. I think it’s P. schefferi, definitely my favorite Ptycho. 

[Merlyn]

@Cape Garrett gotcha, thanks!  Christmas palm is a bit more than my "wingspan" of 6 feet, so that helps me pick a spot.  @NatureGirl that's a great looking Schefferi! 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

Anyone try this in a cooler area ? I'm always looking for clumping palms with the hope they will just grow back from the ground. I'm successfully growing C.Mitis in 9a against the house. 

T J 

[Cape Garrett]

4 hours ago, NatureGirl said:

My Palm Pal CBLisa gave this to me before she moved to HI. I think it’s P. schefferi, definitely my favorite Ptycho. 

This definitely.looks like schefferi 

[Merlyn]

@OC2Texaspalmlvr I have tried Schefferi here twice.  They were in the ground at 2-3' tall during the Christmas 2022 3-day freeze, with about 20 hours under 32F.  Then in mid-January and another moderate freeze with only a few hours under 32 but moderate frost.  The lows for both clumps were around 28F on 12/24, 26.5-27F on 12/25 and 31.5F on 12/26. 

• East side pathway burnt to the ground, rotted all 3 culms and died, did not resprout
• Southwest side burnt to the ground but resprouted and is still alive today.

I haven't tried a larger one yet, my survivor is back to about 3' tall now with 4 or 5 trunks.  It's probably small because I transplanted it to the front yard in the spring of 2023.  If I'd left it in place it probably would have grown back faster.

[miamicuse]

OK I got it planted this evening.  This spot gets quite a bit of east sun.  Here's hope it benefits from the rain every day now.

[Cape Garrett]

7 minutes ago, miamicuse said:

OK I got it planted this evening.  This spot gets quite a bit of east sun.  Here's hope it benefits from the rain every day now.

One of my all time favorite palms.  Very symmetrical spread as it matures.  A specimen palm.  And not used as much as it should be.  Enjoy it.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

4 hours ago, Merlyn said:

East side pathway burnt to the ground, rotted all 3 culms and died, did not resprout

That's a bummer prolly to tender for me , beautiful palm maybe I'll try in a pot like my Lutescens. 

T J 

[miamicuse]

12 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

There's no stopping lutescens.  I had my schefferi cut to 12 trunks several years ago.  It has only sent up 2 more since so I just removed them when they were small.  EZ PZ.  This palm is not as aggressive as lutescens is.  Definitely trainable to what you want it to be.

Curious, when you reduced it to 12 trunks, did you do it such that they are around the same heights or varying heights?

I like the entire leaf characteristic of it, hope it stays that way for as long as possible.

[miamicuse]

5 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@OC2Texaspalmlvr I have tried Schefferi here twice.  They were in the ground at 2-3' tall during the Christmas 2022 3-day freeze, with about 20 hours under 32F.  Then in mid-January and another moderate freeze with only a few hours under 32 but moderate frost.  The lows for both clumps were around 28F on 12/24, 26.5-27F on 12/25 and 31.5F on 12/26. 

• East side pathway burnt to the ground, rotted all 3 culms and died, did not resprout
• Southwest side burnt to the ground but resprouted and is still alive today.

I haven't tried a larger one yet, my survivor is back to about 3' tall now with 4 or 5 trunks.  It's probably small because I transplanted it to the front yard in the spring of 2023.  If I'd left it in place it probably would have grown back faster.

I remember 2022 it got chilly down here as well, I had iguanas dropping from the trees.

[Cape Garrett]

6 hours ago, miamicuse said:

Curious, when you reduced it to 12 trunks, did you do it such that they are around the same heights or varying heights?

I like the entire leaf characteristic of it, hope it stays that way for as long as possible.

They were about the same height

[Cape Garrett]

6 hours ago, miamicuse said:

I remember 2022 it got chilly down here as well, I had iguanas dropping from the trees.

No issues with this palm and a cold spell.  Looks great year round here in SWFL

[Cape Garrett]

Did well in hurricane Ian.  Started with 13 canes and lost one trunk at the crownshaft.  The winds bent the whole clump.  Not uprooted.  Just bent.  Now 2 years later she is taking on an "S" shape to the canes.  I'll get a pic later and post it.  Am letting 2 small canes grow but may remove those as well.  Will see.

[Merlyn]

9 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

That's a bummer prolly to tender for me , beautiful palm maybe I'll try in a pot like my Lutescens. 

T J 

When bigger they might be a bit hardier, my limited experience says >30F is pretty much okay.  The Christmas 2022 freeze more or less matched the temperature profile that Eric posted for his 2009 extended 29F freeze.  It only got up to 48-50 for 2 days and 56-58 on the third day.  If you see stuff like this regularly then it's definitely a pot-only plant for you:

[Cape Garrett]

Pics from the street.

[Cape Garrett]

Just now, Cape Garrett said:

Pics from the street.

Note these never uprooted from hurricane Ian.  Which was a cat 4, super intense and long lasting wind event.  They just bent.  They are curving upwards now.  Will have an exotic looking sway to the trunks as it ages.  

[Merlyn]

2 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

Note these never uprooted from hurricane Ian.  Which was a cat 4, super intense and long lasting wind event.  They just bent.  They are curving upwards now.  Will have an exotic looking sway to the trunks as it ages.  

That's going to be one seriously Dr. Seuss level clump in a couple of years! 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

10 hours ago, Merlyn said:

If you see stuff like this regularly then it's definitely a pot-only plant for you:

Were definitely much worse being 9a. Being a quick grower and a clumper I thought maybe I can get some good years when we get some wild winters. 

T J 

[mnorell]

When I lived on Big Pine Key, there was a P.  schefferi planted out along the road a couple of blocks north of our house. I always admired it but it looked very rough after Irma (Cat 4/5, 160+mph gusts, 24 hrs or so under 4-5' of ocean with waves and lots of mesovorticity); lost most of its canes and virtually all of its foliage. It did come back, however. albeit slowly. Similar to what I experienced there with my hedge-row of Ptychosperma lineare., while, conversely, P. elegans recovered quickly and very nicely. While P. schefferi is moderately strong in its hurricane-resilience, I'm not so confident on the temperature front. I have tried it twice out here in the Palm Springs area and lost them both times in winter, so I suspect it is one of the more cold-sensitive Ptychosperma. I grow P. elegans and P. lineare, plus seedlings (outside year-round) of P. macarthuri, P. salomonense, and P. furcatum with no issue whatsoever. But P. schefferi just seems to hate the cold. I may try again, since I try to give any species a number of tries with different placements before I give up on them.

[Cape Garrett]

5 hours ago, mnorell said:

When I lived on Big Pine Key, there was a P.  schefferi planted out along the road a couple of blocks north of our house. I always admired it but it looked very rough after Irma (Cat 4/5, 160+mph gusts, 24 hrs or so under 4-5' of ocean with waves and lots of mesovorticity); lost most of its canes and virtually all of its foliage. It did come back, however. albeit slowly. Similar to what I experienced there with my hedge-row of Ptychosperma lineare., while, conversely, P. elegans recovered quickly and very nicely. While P. schefferi is moderately strong in its hurricane-resilience, I'm not so confident on the temperature front. I have tried it twice out here in the Palm Springs area and lost them both times in winter, so I suspect it is one of the more cold-sensitive Ptychosperma. I grow P. elegans and P. lineare, plus seedlings (outside year-round) of P. macarthuri, P. salomonense, and P. furcatum with no issue whatsoever. But P. schefferi just seems to hate the cold. I may try again, since I try to give any species a number of tries with different placements before I give up on them.

I did not get any storm surge here in Cape Coral from Ian.   At my house anyway.  It was beat up from the winds fo at least 13 hours but the pictures above show it 2 years after Ian.  Just lost 1 cane at the crownshaft but again no storm surge or waves.

[mnorell]

7 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

I did not get any storm surge here in Cape Coral from Ian.   At my house anyway.  It was beat up from the winds fo at least 13 hours but the pictures above show it 2 years after Ian.  Just lost 1 cane at the crownshaft but again no storm surge or waves.

It's hard to believe that beautiful specimen of yours went through something as strong as Ian. I'm surprised you have seen that much growth in eight years from a three-gallon pot--especially factoring in whatever setbacks it suffered going through the hurricane--and I really like its unconventionally open structure, which is something I've not seen done before. And the tilt I suppose can be regarded as a badge of honor...it just looks a little bit sozzled!