Lanonia calciphila

[bar]

I received about ten seeds of this a few years ago.  Three sprouted, and one survived.  It's now in a four inch pot.  I read somewhere that it was pretty cold tolerant, despite its origin in North Vietnam, but at about 1000 meters.  It's been outside for two winters in a pot, but when I realized that I was down to only one, I brought it in for the winter when we had a prediction of 30 degrees, even though I had it in a very protected spot.  I had seedlings of Licuala ramsayi which survived, and Licuala peltata var. sumawongii which was hit or miss in pots as two to three year old seedlings from Floribunda.  Lanonia dasyantha survives very well here in a protected location.

I'm wondering if anyone has any info on this hard to find palm.  I consider myself lucky to have one.  The good news is that it is described by Palmpedia as "stems clustered" which I presume means that it sends up multiple shoots, sort of like a Rhapis excelsa.  As Lanonia is dioecious, I suspect this is the only way I will be able to multiply it.

Is anybody growing this, and if so, do you have any photos of your plant?  Mine is only at the "it could be just about any palm" stage.

 

Bruce

[realarch]

Boy Bruce, that was a new one for me…..had to look it up. Good luck with it, hope it makes a go of it. Post a photo when you get a chance.

I’ve got a bunch of L. dasyantha that are thriving, but like I said, was never aware of it’s availability.

Tim

[Tyrone]

19 hours ago, bar said:

I received about ten seeds of this a few years ago.  Three sprouted, and one survived.  It's now in a four inch pot.  I read somewhere that it was pretty cold tolerant, despite its origin in North Vietnam, but at about 1000 meters.  It's been outside for two winters in a pot, but when I realized that I was down to only one, I brought it in for the winter when we had a prediction of 30 degrees, even though I had it in a very protected spot.  I had seedlings of Licuala ramsayi which survived, and Licuala peltata var. sumawongii which was hit or miss in pots as two to three year old seedlings from Floribunda.  Lanonia dasyantha survives very well here in a protected location.

I'm wondering if anyone has any info on this hard to find palm.  I consider myself lucky to have one.  The good news is that it is described by Palmpedia as "stems clustered" which I presume means that it sends up multiple shoots, sort of like a Rhapis excelsa.  As Lanonia is dioecious, I suspect this is the only way I will be able to multiply it.

Is anybody growing this, and if so, do you have any photos of your plant?  Mine is only at the "it could be just about any palm" stage.

 

Bruce

This is rare rare rare. I was hoping to bump into it when I was back in Nam in 2019 but never saw them. I hope to go back one day and maybe see one in the wild. 

[bar]

It's too bad palms aren't going for the same price as Aroids these days.  I'd sell it!  I have Philodendron plants that I bought for $20 that are apparently now selling for $200 and higher per stem!  It's like the tech stock  bubble of years ago, but with plants.

Bruce

[sgvcns]

Lanonia Calciphila is locally abundant in Cuc Phuong National Park. Geographically it is a few hundred km from the range of L dasyantha so I expect quite similar cold tolerances. That is certainly the case for me. Not fast by any means for me however.

It grows alongside P baviensis and C monostachya among others. It is only sparsely clumping and not really similar in habit to Rhapis.

Maybe next year I'll be back. Was hoping to be there this year after cancelling last year.

Steve

[sgvcns]

My largest. From memory I sent you the seed from the same trip

[bar]

Hi Steve!  Mine is nowhere near as big as yours, but it has a nice new leaf forming.  Lanonia dasyantha is growing super well here, so I expect that once the calciphilla gets going a bit better it will be very happy when planted.

If you ever get more seed, please put me down for some.  I'm the cofounder of the Sacramento California botanical garden.  We are creating the first botanical garden for the capital of the state of California.  On our list of great themed gardens is a tropical look garden. I believe that with the introduction of some unusual and hard to find palms, we will increase interest in them.

Bruce

[JJD]

A couple of my calciphila grown from seed.