Hybrid or just robust?

[ruskinPalms]

Hey all,

I have a few really robust canes in my Dypsis lutescens hedge and I’ve always wondered if they are just robust or maybe hybridized with something else. Here are some pics:

it is the one poking out over the edge of the porch roof. Seems to be a bluish on the undersides of its leaves and its fruit has always seemed a little more round than the others which have more oval fruits.

 

[ruskinPalms]

[ruskinPalms]

[ruskinPalms]

[ruskinPalms]

[ruskinPalms]

So what do you all think? Just a normal variation or is it maybe hybridized with something like a triangle palm?

thanks in advance!

[Jim in Los Altos]

56 minutes ago, ruskinPalms said:

So what do you all think? Just a normal variation or is it maybe hybridized with something like a triangle palm?

thanks in advance!

How do you mean hybridized in this case since all the stems are part of the same plant? Yours is vigorous indeed. You’re doing something right. 

[ruskinPalms]

Believe it or not they are probably not from the same plant. When they grow these commercially they just slather a bunch of seeds in top of the growing medium to get a bunch of little sprouts to give a quicker appearance of clumping. This hedge all came from one 3 gallon pot broken into little parts and planted in a line. 

[TomJ]

I admittedly do not have a keen eye to detail.

I am certainly not a Dypsis expert.

I have made a few observations from my own growing experiences.

Living in California Dypsis Lutescens always looks rather anemic. On holiday they look so much better in the tropics. Tropical growers might even think of them like weeds.

Here in San Diego I am growing several. One was bought some time ago at a big box store, and is considerably more yellow and smaller in stature than my other greener two.

The other greener two were planted many years later. These two are beefier, more robust, and much greener like yours. The emerging spears are redder as well.

 Bill is your emerging spears red?

I have a good friend growing what he calls a Dypsis Arenarum.  It looks almost exactly like my Dypsis Lutescens that are greener. I am sure someone with a keener eye will point out subtle points of differentiation.

I have always read that with more exposure they yellow up more. That not always jives with what my eyes see, like yours for example.

Dypsis, especially the Baronii complex, are highly variable.

[TomJ]

These are pictures of the more petite yellow one

[TomJ]

These are the pictures of the green more robust version

[ruskinPalms]

Ok thanks so I guess it is just normal variation. I think have seen red emerging spears on some of them. A lot of them are getting taller now so I don’t see the color of the emerging spears. I might try growing seeds from this particular palm and see if the seeds come true to the parent.  It is thick enough to be kept a singular palm and not look too skinny.