Ankle Biters

[realarch]

Ankle biters, an apt description for small, usually understory palms that are attractive, almost cute. These are small, even at maturity, and instead of always looking up, you look down on them. Feel free to post away and add your miniature palms.

I’ll start with some Dypsis.

Dypsis forficifolia. A variable species with many different forms. Thin stems, nice foliage, and grow tall and skinny. It’s hard to believe these are lumped in under the same name. 

Tim

[realarch]

Dypsis minuta. 

Dypsis brevicaulis. This one hasn’t been a particularly easy grow for me. Of course if I didn’t keep transplanting…….who knows?

Tim

[realarch]

Dypsis soanierana, well, that’s the name it came with. Kind of a nice feathery little palm whatever it is.

Dypsis poivreana. This one has thick, leathery leaves.

Tim

[quaman58]

Beautiful Tim. I'm so envious of how easy these seem to grow for you guys on the islands. Here in SoCal, they've just been a tough grow for me. Little Chamaedoreas no sweat, but little Dypsis are just about impossible. I had 2 Dypsis serpentina for 7 years that threw a leaf or two every year, but never got any taller or more robust in all that time. Literally were still 5" tall, like they came from Floribunda last week. They both finally slowed to a crawl & died this past winter. I think it's a humidity thing that they're real fussy about & they just want to be constantly damp; a tough call in an arid area. Thanks for posting!

 

Bret

[Tracy]

1 hour ago, quaman58 said:

Beautiful Tim. I'm so envious of how easy these seem to grow for you guys on the islands. Here in SoCal, they've just been a tough grow for me. Little Chamaedoreas no sweat, but little Dypsis are just about impossible. I had 2 Dypsis serpentina for 7 years that threw a leaf or two every year, but never got any taller or more robust in all that time. Literally were still 5" tall, like they came from Floribunda last week. They both finally slowed to a crawl & died this past winter. I think it's a humidity thing that they're real fussy about & they just want to be constantly damp; a tough call in an arid area. Thanks for posting!

 

Bret

Not only do they want humidity, they are finicky about temps associated with the humidity.  It is funny living where I do, as on the really dry days if I'm further inland, as I come home I notice the increase in humidity as I get closer to home, but the temps also drop as I get closer to home on those days.  These want the temps to stay warm with their constant moisture it seems.

When I look at some of the small Dypsis, I often am puzzled that they are in the same genus as my big Dypsis.  Then I think about the diversity Canis familiaris... or domesticated dogs.  Greater Swiss Mountain dogs, Xoloitzcuintles, Shar-Peis, Dachshunds, Poodles, Irish Wolfhounds, Pomeranians and Siberian Huskies all are Canis familiaris but show a bit of diversity in size, coat and shape.  So I guess when I look at it that way, a Dypsis breicaulis and carlsmithii being the same genus shouldn't surprise me, but I'll never try to cross pollinate them.

[Butch]

15 hours ago, Tracy said:

  Then I think about the diversity Canis familiaris... or domesticated dogs.  Greater Swiss Mountain dogs, Xoloitzcuintles, Shar-Peis, Dachshunds, Poodles, Irish Wolfhounds, Pomeranians and Siberian Huskies all are Canis familiaris but show a bit of diversity in size, coat and shape.  So I guess when I look at it that way, a Dypsis breicaulis and carlsmithii being the same genus shouldn't surprise me, but I'll never try to cross pollinate them.

I just saw a program on TV night before last about how some of these differences were bred into the dogs... Very interesting... All from the same original animal... The wolf...

Butch

[John hovancsek]

Some ankle biters from the garden and my indoor ankle biter

[chad2468emr]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:18 PM, realarch said:

… small, usually understory palms that are attractive, almost cute. These are small, even at maturity, and instead of always looking up, you look down on them.

Love this idea! I’m getting to the stage of palm collecting where I’m starting to pay attention these sorts of species. At first, it’s like “yeah, yeah, yeah, those are cute or whatever, but…. I WANT SOMETHING THAT TRUNKS AND GETS BIG” but now I’m really loving diving into more obscure, small, and intricate species. Never knew about small dypsis in particular, these guys look neat!

On 6/11/2021 at 7:46 PM, Tracy said:

Not only do they want humidity, they are finicky about temps associated with the humidity. 

Assuming these are heavily cold sensitive, then? As understory palms, I’d imagine they’d be fairly frost protected here in central FL if they had a decent canopy, but we do get fairly dry and non humid in the coolest part of the year. How have you seen them do when it IS cool and just how much humidity do you feel they need?

@Eric in Orlando - Any experience with small dypsis like these over at Leu? 

[WaianaeCrider]

I bookmarked this thread....Someday I'll have enough cover for these little guys.

[Eric in Orlando]

On 6/13/2021 at 7:41 AM, chad2468emr said:

Love this idea! I’m getting to the stage of palm collecting where I’m starting to pay attention these sorts of species. At first, it’s like “yeah, yeah, yeah, those are cute or whatever, but…. I WANT SOMETHING THAT TRUNKS AND GETS BIG” but now I’m really loving diving into more obscure, small, and intricate species. Never knew about small dypsis in particular, these guys look neat!

Assuming these are heavily cold sensitive, then? As understory palms, I’d imagine they’d be fairly frost protected here in central FL if they had a decent canopy, but we do get fairly dry and non humid in the coolest part of the year. How have you seen them do when it IS cool and just how much humidity do you feel they need?

@Eric in Orlando - Any experience with small dypsis like these over at Leu? 

I've grown some and they were all more cold sensitive than the larger Dypsis. They had tolerated brief dips below 32F, no lower than 29-30F. But all were killed in the 2009-10 freeze. I haven't planted any back...yet.

[Tracy]

On 6/13/2021 at 4:41 AM, chad2468emr said:

Assuming these are heavily cold sensitive, then? As understory palms, I’d imagine they’d be fairly frost protected here in central FL if they had a decent canopy, but we do get fairly dry and non humid in the coolest part of the year. How have you seen them do when it IS cool and just how much humidity do you feel they need?

I don't have a hygrometer to measure humidity and nearby stations that do measure it and post really wouldn't be accurate as it changes the closer to the Pacific one gets.  We are under a marine layer at the house as I write and 62 (no hygrometer reading).  The official reading for  Encinitas at this moment is 72 and 78% humidity, because the official station for the city is about a mile inland.  20 miles inland temps are 82 and 42% humidity at 10:30 in the morning.  So there is quite a rapid gradient in both temperature and humidity.  Winter cold in Florida is very different than California for the same zones.  While I may not have temps dipping below 32 other than briefly and very rarely, we do have periods in the winter where temps dip into the low 40's to mid 30's briefly in the wee hours before sunrise but only heat up to the mid 50's during the day.  That is the cool that some of the more tropical plants just aren't a fan of, including many of these small Dypsis.  Perhaps some of the larger Dypsis do better in this climate just based on root mass and foliage above the ground.  Many more experienced growers than I am have told me that the secret with many specieis is to get them to a critical size before planting out (often 3 gallon) for best long term success.  We all know from experience that a more established plant of the same size always outperforms a newly planted specimen of the same size when they encounter extremes of weather.  Bottom line, you will be best served with advice and experience from fellow Floridians from the Orland area on how these smaller Dypsis will perform, and my experiences will be more applicable to fellow Southern Californians in the coastal zones.

[realarch]

We are lucky to live here in East Hawaii where we need not worry much about temperature, rain fall, or humidity. Soil quantity and quality, yes those can be concerns. 

Here are few more Lilliputian palms with a standard pruner for scale. Please add your own.

Tim

Licuala khoonmengii 

Licuala triphylla

Geonoma atrovirens 

[Kim]

I had visions of growing Dypsis pachyramea as a dense groundcover, but it was not to be. This diminutive clustering species is a challenge, even in Hawaii. From many plants, only a handful survive, and they are so touchy, I don't trim the browned leaves until they can literally fall off with a slight tug. It's encouraging to see that a few of them are, in fact, clustering now, but whew! What a struggle to get them going. The plant show below is perhaps 16" tall. The second photo shows a Genoma atrovirens in the center, and a Lanonia dasyantha on the far left. These are all understory palms.

One more glimpse of a D. Pachyramea from above:

[Tracy]

12 hours ago, Kim said:

I had visions of growing Dypsis pachyramea as a dense groundcover, but it was not to be. This diminutive clustering species is a challenge, even in Hawaii.

Interesting that it is a struggle there which begs the question: What is lacking or what is in excess in your environment for these?  Any thoughts Kim?  Soil or lack thereof on your volcanic outcropping maybe?  It would seem that any palm that appreciates consistent temperatures through the day and season, plenty of water but well drained soil and a constant level of humidity would thrive there.

[Kim]

@Tracy -- The initial soil I used potting them up was far too heavy for them. Lost so many.  Since then they are in a much lighter mix with Pele's tears, a fine kind of lava to allow for good drainage to go with the richer soil. It's tricky. Shade is imperative. They have very thin stilt roots! Sometimes we have "dry spells" -- nothing compared to California, just a week or more without rain and my sense is they really need a steady level of moisture. I don't know what they need to truly thrive, but my guess is the lava is a bit too rocky. When I think of the understory in Madagascar, it's a lot of organic debris and constantly wet, not so rocky. Perhaps I should add an additional layer of soil around them so they can spread, which they clearly want to do.

[akamu]

1 Chuniophoenix nana   2 brahea decumbens (starting to blue up after 7 years in ground)    3 calyptrocalyx hollirungi.  4 dypsis rosea.                          5 dypsis lantzeana (very slow)

[Cindy Adair]

I too love the small ones! 

Calyptrocalyx micholitzii

Chamaedorea pumila (aka sullivaniorum)

 

Chamaedorea metallica

 

Pinanga aristata

Iguanura sp. Beak seed

 

[Cindy Adair]

Chuniophoenix nana

Another Calyptrocalyx micholitzii

Chamaedorea adscendens

Licuala mattanensis 'mapu'

Iguanuris tenuis

Calyptrocalyx leptostachys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cindy Adair]

Lanonia dasayantha

Chamaedorea geonomiformis

Dypsis pachystachys 'mottled'

Licuala cordata

Licuala orbicularis

 

 

 

 

[realarch]

Cindy, what type of scissors do you use to trim the ends of those Licuala? 

Tim

[Cindy Adair]

Funny, Tim.
I do actually own a pair of pinking shears in my sewing box that would create edges just like nature does on mapus.

[palmfriend]

Beautiful thread - very inspirational! 

Thank you all for posting!

 

Lars