Whats your rarest palm?

[tjwalters]

Mine is Chamaedorea tenerrima (here, about 5 months since germination):

Seen here as an adult on the cover of the July 1991 Principes:

[edric]

The rarest palm that i posses at the moment is 'Corypha Macropoda' and here is a still of it !

Love,

Kris

Hi Kris, how old is your C. macropoda, thanks, Ed

[John Case]

Brahea sp. Super Silver

They look like leaves of grass they are so small. Maybe by the end of fall I'll have something to photograph....

[Brad Mondel]

mines a variegated sago palm, i know not a real palm lol

[Kris]

Hi Kris, how old is your C. macropoda, thanks, Ed

Dear Ed

Its approx. around 4 to 5 months old and the hardest part is that they germinate late & very erratically.But once they put out spear they start taking full sunlight with temperatures reaching as high as 108 degrees farenheat.But the soil medium it likes the most is clayee & every day watering..Its out & out a pure tropical palm.

Love,

Kris

[PalmsZA]

Wow Tom

Love those Chamies!!! Now the hunt begins.

Cheers

Dennis

[brodklop]

My rarest palm is a lemurophoenix. A very special palm.

I know, I know I'll have a bit of a wait on my hands but it will be worth it.

[Tyrone]

Tahina

[Jonathan]

Syagrus flexuosa - seems to be rare in cultivation at least.

[Moose]

Iwould love to add Corypha macropoda to my list. Kris is the seed difficult to locate?

Ron.

[Kris]

Iwould love to add Corypha macropoda to my list. Kris is the seed difficult to locate?

Ron.

Dear Ron

Iam glad you too are a C.M palm fan like me! To get these seeds is not difficult at all but one has to wait around 70 years to get seeds from our garden here,since the one growing here is a little sapling.And all the known C.M in and around here have all died.Only one that is 6 to 8 feet tall is growing in our horticulture society no hard trunk yet.

But this is a small world,we meet things often which we love the most.And nowdays after joining this forum iam always keeping my eyes & ears open..

And if you like to see visuals of that palm just google search or use our search engine in our forum.I have added lots of stills of that palm.

Here is a still specially for you..

And by the way their is another intreasting corypha Locomtei,this is native to thailand,and i love this variety too,here is a visual for you !

Above still courtesy : kom thai palm(komikrit).

Lots of love,

Kris

[Moose]

Thanks for the info Kris. I don't think my body will last 70 more years to see your prize palm seed.

Kindest regards,

Ron.

[aztropic]

Ravenea xerophila! Examples taller than 4 feet are hard to find;even in Florida.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[BS Man about Palms]

Ravenea xerophila! Examples taller than 4 feet are hard to find;even in Florida.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Unless you are Gary Levine! lol.

Seriously AZ, lookin good!

[aztropic]

I think Gary's are probably the best examples this country has to offer! They are truly spectacular.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[downtownfish]

Kris, that Corypha Locomtei is very pretty.

[Jeff Searle]

I would like to add a couple more.

Tahina spectabalis and Livistona endauensis of which both are small, but doing well in the ground.

Jeff

[Gileno Machado]

I consider the following palms in my collection as very rare because I don't think it will be easy to obtain seeds from these species again:

Oenocarpus circumtextus, Laccosperma laeve, Attalea x voeksii, Sclerosperma mannii

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

Every time I come on here I hear of a new unknown palm with an unpronounceable name, and as a relative newbie to palms(tho Ive been into plants since I was a kid!) I was wondering what your rarest, most spectacular or unusual palm is?

Also, why dont I get email notiications of new posts, even tho Ive gone thru my profile settings.,

No e-mail notifications for me either for about a month now, and my settings are all OK, too! Very ponderous!

Paul

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

I would like to add a couple more.

Tahina spectabalis and Livistona endauensis of which both are small, but doing well in the ground.

Jeff

I guess Tahina spec., (like Jeff's) is my rarest too but not my favourite.

Paul

[Palmetro]

Considering that in Mexico a bottle palm and bismarckia nobilis are "rare palms" These would be my rarest palms:

Lemurropheonyx halleuxii 3 gls

Pelagodoxa henryana 5 gls

Tahina spectabilis

also a bunch of dypsis sp white betafaka prestoniana etc

[Alberto]

Butia microspadix, Butia eriospatha x B.microspadix (I have 5 and I know there are a few around the globe), Tahina spectabilis and a little Juania australis sprout!

[tjwalters]

Iwould love to add Corypha macropoda to my list. Kris is the seed difficult to locate?

Ron.

Dear Ron

Iam glad you too are a C.M palm fan like me! To get these seeds is not difficult at all but one has to wait around 70 years to get seeds from our garden here,since the one growing here is a little sapling.And all the known C.M in and around here have all died.Only one that is 6 to 8 feet tall is growing in our horticulture society no hard trunk yet.

But this is a small world,we meet things often which we love the most.And nowdays after joining this forum iam always keeping my eyes & ears open..

And if you like to see visuals of that palm just google search or use our search engine in our forum.I have added lots of stills of that palm.

Here is a still specially for you..

And by the way their is another intreasting corypha Locomtei,this is native to thailand,and i love this variety too,here is a visual for you !

Above still courtesy : kom thai palm(komikrit).

Lots of love,

Kris

I'm always impressed with how absolutely huge Corypha is. The first one I saw was at FTG - I had to take two pictures and splice them together to get the full effect. That second shot is...what...50' tall? ...and it doesn't even have much of a trunk yet. Enormous leaves. Are there any larger?

[kelen]

I think is Syagrus campestris seedlings

[ErikSJI]

Mine would be the Butia X cocos.

[DoomsDave]

Actinokentia "Diva" not much to look at.

So far.

[PalmGuyWC]

Eric,

If that is a Butia X Coconut, you would be only the second person on the planet that I know of that has one. How about a little more commentary on it? Did you do the cross yourself and under what conditions are you growing it and where? Give us some more info. I'm not doubting that you have one, but would just like some history on it.

Thanks,

Dick

[ErikSJI]

Eric,

If that is a Butia X Coconut, you would be only the second person on the planet that I know of that has one. How about a little more commentary on it? Did you do the cross yourself and under what conditions are you growing it and where? Give us some more info. I'm not doubting that you have one, but would just like some history on it.

Thanks,

Dick

Hello Dick,

It is the Butia X Coconut. I believe Mark Heath says he has a possible cross.

This cross was done by a pollinator who wishes to remain unknown. As far as the story goes this was his second attempt at it. The first batch none of the seedlings made it past one year of age. The individual who did the pollination gurantees it is what he says it is and has never given me any reason not to believe so. It was hand pollinated and the Butias were bagged. He is also not a palm grower which is why he distributed 4 of these seedlings to individuals he thought would get them to a mature age and he kept 3 of them for himself.

However I am a rookie at growing palms and I just got lucky as I received mine on May 30th of this year as a wedding gift and it has just recently starting pushing its fourth leaf. The seedling is about 1 1/2 years old.

I live in zone 8 pacific northwest San Juan Island. This seedling has remained outdoors since May 30th of this year on my balcony. It has recieved no fertilizer and we have had one of the hottest summers on record with temps in the triple digits.

I do not however think this palm even as an adult can stand the winters here and will be brought indoors for atleast a few years even then I doubt I will be able to test how hardy it is until I get my hands on another one as I do not want to loose the only one I have.

I believe the other seedlings are all located in Florida of which I believe are being shade house grown until they are a little larger. I am in contact with one of the other individuals who also recieved one of these who should be sending me some photos of his.

I have begged him to do some more and he has agreed once he gets some more fresh Cocos pollen. If there is anyone if Florida that has access please let me know. I will fly down myself and collect it.

Erik

[PalmGuyWC]

Erik,

This is indeed exciting news, especially since several have been distributed around. I would imagine South or Central Florida or warmer places in S. Calif. would be the ideal locations to test this hybrid. I would think San Juan Island would be pushing it, even in the summer if your night time temps. get as low as they do in N. Calif., however you never know until they are tested.

Keep us informed.

Dick

[ErikSJI]

Erik,

This is indeed exciting news, especially since several have been distributed around. I would imagine South or Central Florida or warmer places in S. Calif. would be the ideal locations to test this hybrid. I would think San Juan Island would be pushing it, even in the summer if your night time temps. get as low as they do in N. Calif., however you never know until they are tested.

Keep us informed.

Dick

That is the huge problem with doing a new Hybrid. Not knowing, untested, wondering if it will fruit or not, what charcteristics it will display.

As soon as I track down some more Cocos pollen he will have another go at it.

ERik

[Jason in Orlando]

Rarest was Voanioala gerardii, but they both died. Next was Lemurophoenix, but that died. Now it would be either Metroxylon vitiense, Pseudophoenix eckmanii (two blades of grass), or most likely Ptychococcus lepidotus (two doing well). I also have what was sold as Nenga macrocarpa, a small one gallon palm that is heavily clustering. That may actually be the rarest of mine. Pretty slow growing little palm. Socratea exhorriza are pretty rare here I suppose...

Jason

[chris.oz]

My rarest palm is Lepidorrhachis mooreana . It grows 1 leaf a year in my garden.

[LilikoiLee]

I've posted a photo before, but not this one, I don't think...  I'm really amazed at how happy this palm is outside here.  When the most recent leaf fell off there was a faint sliver of a spathe(?) so I think that this palm is starting to think about flowering.  By the way, I got this palm from Jerry Andersen, the seed came to him labeled as Dypsis 'menalaingo'.

Matt

Wow, this palm is so uniquely beautiful; wish I had one.

[LilikoiLee]

Wow Jason:

Those Oenocarpus of yours are looking great, enjoying the winter in amazonic Perth (!)...and they are still sprouting? I've lost a few of mine during the adaptation to potting mix, these are difficult creatures...

My rarest palms are not my favorites...I just don't notice anybody else around here growing them: Bactris ferruginea, Lepidocaryum tenue, Rheinhardtia simplex, Euterpe oleracea green fruit (Açaí branco), Bactris glassmanii, Cocos nucifera "apple" hybrid, etc.

I wouldn't mind growing a "common" Lodoicea like Bo's though...

Lepidocaryum tenue:

Gileno,

Thanks for introducing me to Lepidocaryum tenue and Rheinhardtia simplex which are both wonderful. I have not found any good photos of B. ferruginea and glassmanii though. Do you have any you could post?

Thanks,

Lee

[Daryl]

Hard question!

How do you define rare?

Rare in the wild? ie Total number of mature individuals known in the wild is very low?

Rare in cultivation ie not grown by anybody even though they are not rare in the wild?

Rare in cultivation in your particular country or area but not rare elsewhere in cultivation?

Lemurophoenix sp. not halleuxii who else is growing this, and where?

Dypsis sp 215...I only know of one other plant in cultivation beside mine, but it may be growing all over Madagascar...

Astrocaryum murumuru...haven't seen too many in cultivation, even though I'm sure they are not rare in the wild

Pritchardia viscosa - almost extinct in the wild...but how many already in cultivation?

You sure are dragging up some old threads Moose... oldies but goodies!

Daryl

[LilikoiLee]

HELP!!! What are CIDP's, OCWS, and Foxyladys?

[tjwalters]

HELP!!! What are CIDP's, OCWS, and Foxyladys?

CIDP = Canary Island Date Palm

OCWS = unnamed Dypsis species (???)

Foxylady = hybrid Wodyetia bifurcata x Veitchia arecina (???)

Can someone verify?

[John in Andalucia]

HELP!!! What are CIDP's, OCWS, and Foxyladys?

CIDP = Canary Island Date Palm

OCWS = unnamed Dypsis species (???)

Foxylady = hybrid Wodyetia bifurcata x Veitchia arecina (???)

Can someone verify?

CIDP = Phoenix canariensis (Canary Island Date Palm)

OCWS = Dypsis sp. "Orange Crownshaft White Stem"

Foxylady = Wodyetia bifurcata x Veitchia arecina (Probably Veitchia joannis as well, given the similarities.)

My rarest palms are based on availability of plant or seed, climatic requirements, germination and/or cultivation success rate:

Areca macrocalyx (red)

Chamaedorea angustisecta

Chamaedorea tuerckheimii

Dictyocarum lamarckianum

Dypsis thiryana

Geonoma undata

Licuala mattenensis v. mapu

Pelagodoxa henryana

Pinanga veitchii

Pritchardia viscosa (reputedly)

Trachycarpus princeps

[LilikoiLee]

Many thanks, Tom and John!

Lee

[SundayMoney]

I think mine would have to be Pseudopheonix ekmanii.