Palms in Raleigh Durham Int'l Airport

[PalmatierMeg]

I recently returned home after 2 weeks in Raleigh, NC visiting family. On my flight home, I spent hours inside Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) because my flight was delayed (I finally made it to FL at 2:30 a.m. the following morning). After surviving the TSA security checkpoint I was greeted by the sight of a potted group of very s-t-r-e-t-h-e-d out Adonidia merrillii (or Ptchosperma elegans?) that looked to be 15-20' tall. I had trouble deciding because they appeared distorted. A bit sad, really, that they will never know the summer heat, sun, humidity and rainfall just beyond the plate glass windows. Then again, they won't croak during winter freezes, cloudy skies and Raleigh's infamous ice storms. I called up the camera on my phone and took the following photos.

 

[RedRabbit]

Not 100% sure what they are, but I’ve been wondering because we’ve got them in the lobby of by office building too. Thinking p elegans probably.

[The Gerg]

6 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I recently returned home after 2 weeks in Raleigh, NC visiting family. On my flight home, I spent hours inside Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) because my flight was delayed (I finally made it to FL at 2:30 a.m. the following morning). After surviving the TSA security checkpoint I was greeted by the sight of a potted group of very s-t-r-e-t-h-e-d out Adonidia merrillii (or Ptchosperma elegans?) that looked to be 15-20' tall. I had trouble deciding because they appeared distorted. A bit sad, really, that they will never know the summer heat, sun, humidity and rainfall just beyond the plate glass windows. Then again, they won't croak during winter freezes, cloudy skies and Raleigh's infamous ice storms. I called up the camera on my phone and took the following photos.

 

I’m impressed with the high quality and resolution of these pics from your phone. Especially the last two. 

[The Silent Seed]

Nice to see the Stromanthe too! One of my favorites. 

[NOT A TA]

Doesn't look like Adonidia to me, even shade grown. Looks like P elegans to me but I don't have as much experience with those.

Long ago I worked as a designer/estimator for big commercial landscape companies up North who had contracts for both interior and exterior maintenance for a lot of fortune 500 type companies in the Fairfield county area of CT. I only did designs for exterior but wrote contracts for interior and exterior construction/maintenance with cost guidance for the interior plantscape stuff from the interior experts. In some places the interior plants were cycled in and out of certain places in buildings or back to green house areas while remaining in the large planters and the cost was just factored into the yearly contracts. So just because a particular type of plant is placed in a interior environment that doesn't look suitable for sustained health doesn't prevent one from being there. Only a "plant person" who routinely saw the same planter would notice if it was switched with another that had the same plant species. Easiest way to tell is if you can see marks on the floor that don't line up exactly with the planter/pot. But sometimes the floors are polished out when the planter is temporarily removed, and these things are usually done outside of normal business hours so you don't have fork lifts driving around in the lobby of the business during regular hours.

[GottmitAlex]

These palms look like the mystery palms in the Hillsdale, shopping center in San Mateo, CA.

(2nd picture in first post)

 

 

 

 

 

[HtownPalms]

Cool looking little palms even if they are skinny.

[Cevven]

I'm not exactly sure if they are the same ones (I live in Raleigh and been to the airport here numerous times, just been a while since I actually been inside the Airport). I remember in 2008 (when this terminal was under construction to replace the old one), I had an assignment with a temp agency and we installed some palm trees near the TSA check-in. 

[kinzyjr]

18 hours ago, Cevven said:

I'm not exactly sure if they are the same ones (I live in Raleigh and been to the airport here numerous times, just been a while since I actually been inside the Airport). I remember in 2008 (when this terminal was under construction to replace the old one), I had an assignment with a temp agency and we installed some palm trees near the TSA check-in. 

Thanks for sharing that and welcome to the forums!