Dypsis ID..

[quaman58]

Hey all, I generally do not do very well with a lot of the bigger Dypsis. But this one seems to be slowly chugging along without too much fuss. It came from Floribunda as sp. affinnis, or something like that, about 4 years ago. I guess it somewhat resembles D. Robusta, but is definitely quicker. Robusta tends to be very slow in SoCal, at least for the first several years. any thoughts? Possibly hybrid? Thanks in advance!

[ellidro]

I think it is Dypsis aff tokorovina.

Turns into a massive and gorgeous palm This is a pic I took from this thread of the same palm at Bills Austin’s place

 

 

[John hovancsek]

I definitely don’t think it’s tokoravina but it really looks like something I have seen before, I just can’t put my finger on it

[quaman58]

I think you’re correct Nick, I think that’s what it came in labeled as. Boy, that one at Bills (if it’s indeed the same palm) is a monster!

[Tracy]

4 hours ago, quaman58 said:

I guess it somewhat resembles D. Robusta, but is definitely quicker. Robusta tends to be very slow in SoCal, at least for the first several years. any thoughts? Possibly hybrid?

When I look at the leaflets, they have the leathery look that I associate with D robusta.  The tops of the leaflets on both your plant and D robusta have more of a velvet texture compared to the smoother texture of some others.  It is sort of like comparing a glossy paper with a more textured natural paper.

 

3 hours ago, ellidro said:

I think it is Dypsis aff tokorovina.

Turns into a massive and gorgeous palm This is a pic I took from this thread of the same palm at Bills Austin’s place

That is a beauty in Bill' Austin's garden.  I can't tell in the photo with Jason's wife & daughter if the leaflets have the same texture or not as Bret's plant, perhaps someone knows?  My other observation is that the Dypsis aff tokoravina has a semi-plumose set to the leaflets which I'm not seeing yet in Bret's plant.   Perhaps it will develop that over time?  Bret's plant is developing into a beauty whether it is offspring or related to Bill's or not.  Will be interesting to watch Bret's plant as it gathers steam over the next few years.  Another last observation on Bret's plant, I don't recall my D robusta ever having that red emerging spear.  That is more reminiscent of D decipiens, but the rest of the plant bears no resemblance to D decipiens.

[JubaeaMan138]

I also thought robusta right off the bat 

[JubaeaMan138]

Although my robusta never has a red emerging spear . Love that spear color . Insane 

[ellidro]

 

The off tokoravina look very similar to robusta when young. They have that same blue/green glaucus look to the leaflets. The difference is how much wider the leaflets are with these aff tokoravina, which Brett's plant has. Seeing as though he bought the plant from the same source all of the aff tokoravina came from and was labeled such, I don't think there is a question here. 

 

 

[JubaeaMan138]

18 minutes ago, ellidro said:

 

The off tokoravina look very similar to robusta when young. They have that same blue/green glaucus look to the leaflets. The difference is how much wider the leaflets are with these aff tokoravina, which Brett's plant has. Seeing as though he bought the plant from the same source all of the aff tokoravina came from and was labeled such, I don't think there is a question here. 

 

 

How do they grow compared to robusta ? Robusta are absolute slugs . 

[ellidro]

I don't have any in the ground only a few in containers that have gone through two winters outdoors. One 15g and a 7g. The container grown seem to be a little less prone to stunting and are less cold sensitive than robusta but the real test will be when they are in the ground. I know there are some folks who have planted these already, maybe they can chime in.

[Matt in OC]

I think I have the same palm from Floribunda. Jeff said it ain’t Robusta but resembles it, seed from Madagascar. I concur that the last time we had this discussion we called it aff. tokoravina.

[Matt in OC]

Been in the ground a few years. It gets lots of water and shade and doesn’t seem to mind, even in winter. It pushes one leaf a year but it’s a big leaf. 

[Hilo Jason]

Unfortunately, Bill Austin’s palm died somewhat suddenly about a year or so ago. It was much bigger than in that photo I took with my wife and daughter. I might have a more updated photo and will try to find it to post.  Before it died, Mike Knell saw it with me at Bills and keyed it out to Tokoravina based on the description written in Palms Of Madagascar.  So hopefully this is the real deal Tokoravina!

I also had 2 die suddenly in my garden. I have one left that so far seems really happy.  Here are a couple photos as of today:

This Dypsis gets a unique orange soft fuzz on it. I’ve never seen another Dypsis with this colored fuzz. 

I know that there a few of these planted at Floribunda and Tim has one around the corner from me. 

I’m pretty sure there are more California growers with these too. Len?

Matt - yours is looking good. One leaf a year seems about right for California. It’s not super fast even for me as far as amount of leaves. But each leaf is usually much larger than the previous, so even though slow, it puts on significant size. 

[Kailua_Krish]

19 hours ago, Hilo Jason said:

Unfortunately, Bill Austin’s palm died somewhat suddenly about a year or so ago. It was much bigger than in that photo I took with my wife and daughter. I might have a more updated photo and will try to find it to post.  Before it died, Mike Knell saw it with me at Bills and keyed it out to Tokoravina based on the description written in Palms Of Madagascar.  So hopefully this is the real deal Tokoravina!

I also had 2 die suddenly in my garden. I have one left that so far seems really happy.  Here are a couple photos as of today:

 

This Dypsis gets a unique orange soft fuzz on it. I’ve never seen another Dypsis with this colored fuzz. 

 

I know that there a few of these planted at Floribunda and Tim has one around the corner from me. 

I’m pretty sure there are more California growers with these too. Len?

Matt - yours is looking good. One leaf a year seems about right for California. It’s not super fast even for me as far as amount of leaves. But each leaf is usually much larger than the previous, so even though slow, it puts on significant size. 

Any thoughts on why it died? Moisture related?

[Tracy]

On 10/9/2021 at 3:08 PM, Matt in OC said:

It pushes one leaf a year but it’s a big leaf. 

 

Matt, I can see that yours is starting to go a little plumose now, something you can't really see in Brett's yet.  Very attractive both at this stage with the wide leaflets and the more mature one's pictured above.  It doesn't sound any faster than Dypsis robusta here in California to me.  I just looked back at photos of my D robusta, and other than 2020, I have consistently had 2 leaves every growing season, one in mid-spring, and the second in mid-summer.  Much like Jason described about his aff tokaravina, each leaf was significantly larger until they reach full size.

[quaman58]

Tracey,

 

The one I'm growing, whatever it is, looks like it's going to be a consistent 2-3 leaf a year palm. Much more brisk that the robusta's we have growing around here, at least so far..

[LJG]

15 gallon sized plants showing leaf difference. First is Robusta, second is the aff. Tokoravina.

Side note: this Aff plant sure looks like the famous Darian “White Stem” doesn’t it? 

 

[quaman58]

Wow.. great side by side comparison Len. 

[LJG]

On 10/9/2021 at 4:28 PM, Hilo Jason said:

Before it died, Mike Knell saw it with me at Bills and keyed it out to Tokoravina based on the description written in Palms Of Madagascar.  So hopefully this is the real deal Tokoravina!

 

 

 

Just conversation here as obviously just my opinion what I am saying. But I don’t think it keys out to true Tokoravina. I keyed out a plant I got from Mardy 10 years back and it does key. Plus this plant was guessed to be Tokoravina by two ringers. Jerry Andersen (seeing it in Mardy’s yard) and Matt P seeing it in mine. Look at the open crown, the split crownshaft down almost entire length and the leaflets. One key identifier this plant has that the aff Tokoravina in reference here doesn’t is the gray waxy abaxial side of leaflets - which is easy to see in my plant. 

The aff. plant is also much more robust - like a Robusta or presto. 
 

anyway… :)

[JubaeaMan138]

2 hours ago, LJG said:

Just conversation here as obviously just my opinion what I am saying. But I don’t think it keys out to true Tokoravina. I keyed out a plant I got from Mardy 10 years back and it does key. Plus this plant was guessed to be Tokoravina by two ringers. Jerry Andersen (seeing it in Mardy’s yard) and Matt P seeing it in mine. Look at the open crown, the split crownshaft down almost entire length and the leaflets. One key identifier this plant has that the aff Tokoravina in reference here doesn’t is the gray waxy abaxial side of leaflets - which is easy to see in my plant. 

The aff. plant is also much more robust - like a Robusta or presto. 
 

anyway…

If anyone is selling tokoravina send me a message would Love to have one 

[Hilo Jason]

3 hours ago, LJG said:

15 gallon sized plants showing leaf difference. First is Robusta, second is the aff. Tokoravina.

Side note: this Aff plant sure looks like the famous Darian “White Stem” doesn’t it? 

 

Thanks Len!  Do you have the Aff. Tokoravina planted in the ground as well?  I seem to remember you did have one planted out, but maybe I'm wrong on that.