Borassus flabellifer

[GottmitAlex]

Are these "cold" hardy?  California 10a hardy?

Or are these uber tropical?

 

[PalmatierMeg]

Tropical. Needs sun and heat. Drought tolerant. Slow growing. Gets very large

[kylecawazafla]

Here's one at the San Diego Zoo!

[ahosey01]

1 hour ago, GottmitAlex said:

Are these "cold" hardy?  California 10a hardy?

Or are these uber tropical?

 

Rod Anderson has a giant one in Phoenix that survived I believe 21F in the 2007 freeze.  Couldn’t tell you what it looked like afterwards, but that thing is a monster.  Gets full blazing sun all day too.

[sonoranfans]

2 hours ago, kylecawazafla said:

Here's one at the San Diego Zoo!

Looks like borassus, but Aethiopum, not flabellifer.   Yes Rods Borassus, also Aethiopum survived 23F.   Flabellifer might be a tad more tropical, is a darker green.  Rod also had one of those, but it expired I think at some point.

[Sabal Steve]

I agree with Tom, in that the one at the zoo looks to be aethiopum. 

I obtained some BA seeds from Ghana, which have germinated, so hopefully one day we’ll be able to put the cold hardiness question to rest.  I’ve also heard that Flabellifer is less cold tolerant than Aethiopum, but mostly from anecdotes, here.  That one at the zoo went in as a large plant and has grown steadily there for at least 5 years, without any real protection, so they’re definitely worth a shot if you can track one down.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Sabal Steve