Syagrus kellyana in flower

[PalmatierMeg]

I have two Syagrus kellyana that I germinated from seeds about 10 years ago after this species was first described. This is a handsome, stocky medium size palm that starts flowering while at eye level. Unfortunately, so far neither palm has produced ripe seeds. I noticed today that one of them just opened a spathe loaded with yellow flowers. Very cool up close.

Syagrus kellyana with flowers

New spathe emerging

Second kellyana with unopened spathe

[quaman58]

Very cool Meg. I like the relatively small stature of this palm. Mine is looking  much better these days, but is still not trunking. Yours looks great!

 

Bret

[ruskinPalms]

Cool palm. I wonder how those would do planted as triples. Like, would they arch away from each other? If they are nearly as cold hardy as queen palms then I could see them being neat smaller triple plantings for cooler areas. 

[PalmatierMeg]

I think it has potential as a landscaping palm if only it were more available. Also, my kellyanas have avoided contracting fusarium wilt that destroyed all my queens and mules. I keep hoping my two will finally produce viable seeds.

[Briank]

On 9/2/2020 at 6:19 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

I think it has potential as a landscaping palm if only it were more available. Also, my kellyanas have avoided contracting fusarium wilt that destroyed all my queens and mules. I keep hoping my two will finally produce viable seeds.

How is this as a grower? I have a 3ga size, Havnt planted it yet.   Imagine it’s slow ? And should I plant it in 1/2 shade ? Imagine it will be pretty slow for me in SoCal ? Thanks.   Nice looking Palm 

[quaman58]

7 hours ago, Briank said:

How is this as a grower? I have a 3ga size, Havnt planted it yet.   Imagine it’s slow ? And should I plant it in 1/2 shade ? Imagine it will be pretty slow for me in SoCal ? Thanks.   Nice looking Palm 

Brian, it should do fine for you. I'd call its growth rate fairly slow.  Mine is probably head high overall and has been in ground for 6 years anyway. Unlike Meg's, no trunk yet. Also, surprisingly a bit cold sensitive, spotting during real cold spells. But I think it's getting better; we had a vicious 1-2 nights of cold last February, but it shows no sign of that, unlike a lot of palms in the garden that still bear the scars. It has a slightly glacous look to the leaves and the leaflets are offset to each other, giving it a rather sparse, plumose appearance.

[PalmatierMeg]

Agree with Bret. Slow compared to queens but it's been a trouble free, reliable grower for me. It loves lots of heat and sun.

[Hillizard]

I got this Syagrus kellyana from Phil/JM within the past year. Once repotted it took off. Leaves seem thicker than most Syagrus I've grown and it handles sun and heat(waves!) without complaint. It'll be a 'teenager' before I put it in the ground. Hope it can handle low temps in winter...

[Fusca]

On 8/31/2020 at 3:20 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

I have two Syagrus kellyana that I germinated from seeds about 10 years ago after this species was first described. This is a handsome, stocky medium size palm that starts flowering while at eye level. Unfortunately, so far neither palm has produced ripe seeds. 

Any viable seeds yet?  I'm assuming that they've flowered a couple of times since.

[Josue Diaz]

4 hours ago, Hillizard said:

I got this Syagrus kellyana from Phil/JM within the past year. Once repotted it took off. Leaves seem thicker than most Syagrus I've grown and it handles sun and heat(waves!) without complaint. It'll be a 'teenager' before I put it in the ground. Hope it can handle low temps in winter...

Very cool 😎 mine handle the cold ok. They have been in the ground from strap leaf seedlings and are still... strap leaf seedlings lol

[Hillizard]

17 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

Very cool 😎 mine handle the cold ok. They have been in the ground from strap leaf seedlings and are still... strap leaf seedlings lol

Great to know your S. kellyana is doing well in the ground Josue! Based on your results, I may plant mine out sooner than I planned! Thanks for sharing your pix/results with this species. As usual, it's the winter lows that concern me most with many of my palms. 😉

[PalmatierMeg]

Both of my original kellyanas died over the past 2 years from Hurricane Ian damage. Fortunately, I have a number of seedlings I grew from their seeds to replace them. Right now it’s too hot to plant and my husband has been very ill the past few months and can’t help me. I could do it myself but he freaks out if I try and doesn’t need the stress of more anxiety.

[Harry’s Palms]

@PalmatierMeg I hope your husband is on the mend . At least you have the seedlings from the parents that succumbed to the hurricane. Unfortunately , in my experience , Syagrus are very slow to evolve from early stages . Once they get beyond that , they pick up speed. Even the fast growing Queen is very slow to push beyond the strap leaf stage. The other , more desirable varieties , can be even slower. Harry

[PalmatierMeg]

5 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

@PalmatierMeg I hope your husband is on the mend . At least you have the seedlings from the parents that succumbed to the hurricane. Unfortunately , in my experience , Syagrus are very slow to evolve from early stages . Once they get beyond that , they pick up speed. Even the fast growing Queen is very slow to push beyond the strap leaf stage. The other , more desirable varieties , can be even slower. Harry

Thanks, Harry. Most of the Syagrus deal poorly with major hurricanes (cat 3+) but seem to weather lower categories.

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

@PalmatierMeg I hope your husband is on the mend . At least you have the seedlings from the parents that succumbed to the hurricane. Unfortunately , in my experience , Syagrus are very slow to evolve from early stages . Once they get beyond that , they pick up speed. Even the fast growing Queen is very slow to push beyond the strap leaf stage. The other , more desirable varieties , can be even slower. Harry

As Harry said, we hope your husband improves soon so he can take pleasure in assisting you with planting your next generation of the Syagrus kellyana.