Jubaea Chilensis explosive growth

[Banana Belt]

In a prior forum post the growth rate of a Jubaea Chilensis was discussed by many and is highly recommended.   

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/19995-the-explosive-growth-ofjubaea-chilensis/?&page=4#comments

In 1989 I planted two Jubaea Chilensis that were 5 and 7 years old. The following 6 pictures and graph shows growth rate of one of those palms, with the first picture taken in 2006.  I could not find earlier pictures between 1989 and 2006 as they are packed away someplace in the pre-digital age.

 The first 20+ years a Jubaea palms growth is slow with each new frond or leaf emerging slowly and just slightly bigger but holding on and staying green for many years. 

 After about 20 years the Jubaea begins to change by rapidly increasing its leaf sizes while pulling nutrients out of its childhood leaves turning them brown and dead.  This second stage of the Jubaea’s grow is pre-adult (teenager), where each new leaf gets increasingly larger and bigger and the base of the plant begins to swell sometimes lifting itself up exposing roots.  If roots begin to show at this stage, soil can be placed around the base of the trunk to bury the roots as Jubaea tolerate fill up to a foot deep unlike other palms.  Growth at this stage begins to increase significantly at perhaps twice the rate before.

At about 33 years the Jubaea begins to grow an expanding trunk with increasing circumference causing the oldest leafs to break the fibers attached to the trunk allowing them to detach and fall away.  This leaves a smooth trunk with leaf scars and numerous stretch marks as the Jubaea increases its growth rate again by a factor of two.

The graph at the end shows a growth rate during the 40+ years of the Jubaea’s growth.   The palm shown is now over 40 years old and adds about 18 inches of vertical trunk each year with expanding canopy.   Observing the two Jubaea I have over the years, the bigger and faster the leaves and canopy grow, the bigger the Palm will be.  Soil, fertilizer, watering and site conditions have considerable influence on the size of the Palm.

The Jubaea has not yet produced fruit or nuts, but has been flowering for the last 9 years.   The growth rate as shown on the graph is close to exponential and should begin to slow down during which it will taper its trunk.  It is reported that a Jubaea will not fruit until it is 40, 50 or more years old and or begins a tapering trunk.

If someone wants to grow a fast growing Jubaea, they are best to get one that is over 20 years old shortly before the palm starts its explosive growth and trunk.

[Enar]

Wow that’s really impressive. What’s your environment like? Humid or dry 

[Fallen Munk]

Thanks for sharing your data.  I have one that is approaching 5 feet and that appears to be about the age growth goes exponential.  Can you share your fertilizer regimen?

Edited November 13, 2022 by Fallen Munk

[Banana Belt]

10 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Thanks for sharing your data.  I have one that is approaching 5 feet and that appears to be about the age growth goes exponential.  Can you share your fertilizer regimen?

Any fertilizer that is balanced works applied during wet season.  The faster and bigger the leaves grow, the bigger the trunk and palm will be.  The smaller Jubaea I have received less fertilizer during wet season and less water during dry season, that is why it is smaller.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Banana Belt

[Banana Belt]

On 11/12/2022 at 7:38 AM, Enar said:

Wow that’s really impressive. What’s your environment like? Humid or dry 

Oregon coast is cold and foggy in summer, wet, sunny and mild in winter.  Rarely gets hot and dry.

[Banana Belt]

On 11/13/2022 at 12:03 AM, Fallen Munk said:

Thanks for sharing your data.  I have one that is approaching 5 feet and that appears to be about the age growth goes exponential.  Can you share your fertilizer regimen?

5 feet is about the size when it should start growing much bigger leaves as the base begins to swell.  Both of my Jubaea at that age began to swell the base where the trunk starts and also began to show roots like it was lifting themselves up.  When that happened I called up Dale at Neon Palms where I purchased the seeds from in Vacaville CA, and he told me to put soil fill around the base of the Palms as Jubaea's commonly push up showing roots at that stage.  He also said that unlike other Palms Jubaea don't seem to mind up to a foot of fill placed around them.

[Fallen Munk]

I've been adding compost at the base every year so I don't think I'll see exposed roots, but the leaves are starting to get huge.  This thing has been a rocket so far.   Next season should be a good year for growth, thanks for the info!

[Banana Belt]

1 hour ago, Fallen Munk said:

I've been adding compost at the base every year so I don't think I'll see exposed roots, but the leaves are starting to get huge.  This thing has been a rocket so far.   Next season should be a good year for growth, thanks for the info!

Great to hear the news about your Jubaea.  Jubaea have a reputation of being slow growers, but that is only true during their early years, once they get their first decade behind they take off.  My largest Jubaea adds about 18 inches of vertical trunk each year with additional 18 inches in the canopy of leaves above.  As the leaves grow bigger and bigger the trunk swells and really gets the weight up.  Eventually they grow a beautiful Vase like shape and are striking in appearance.  I think Charles Darwin was wrong in his opinion of the Palm calling it ugly.

[Fallen Munk]

4 hours ago, Banana Belt said:

Great to hear the news about your Jubaea.  Jubaea have a reputation of being slow growers, but that is only true during their early years, once they get their first decade behind they take off. 

Two years growth.

[Chester B]

You guys are driving me crazy with these amazing Jubaeas.  I might have to loosen the purse strings next spring.  I have a nice 10' circular piece of grass that I've been saving for something good.  I do have a bunch of Patrix hybrids though that I thought I might use.

Edited November 22, 2022 by Chester B

[Scott W]

Gonna have to feed mine more....

[Banana Belt]

50 minutes ago, Chester B said:

You guys are driving me crazy with these amazing Jubaeas.  I might have to loosen the purse strings next spring.  I have a nice 10' circular piece of grass that I've been saving for something good.  I do have a bunch of Patrix hybrids though that I thought I might use.

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!!!.   One of the common recommendations that are given with regards to Jubaea, they need a BIG space.  I don't know how big a Jubaea can get, but I have heard and read about Palms up to 6 feet in diameter and some even more.  Anyway, that circular area of grass looks about right even if the Palms fills it up all the way to the edges.

[Fallen Munk]

1 hour ago, Chester B said:

  I do have a bunch of Patrix hybrids though that I thought I might use.

 

That B. yatay x Jubaea at two years old will be bigger than a 10 or 15 year old pure Jubaea.  At least mine is.  Unless you are planning on spending some big bucks for a head start, that's the way I'd go. 

[Chester B]

Probably best to stick with palms I already have then spend money on more.  I have enough palms growing out to fill another 3 lots worth, probably more.

[Fallen Munk]

She's over six feet now.  Would be taller but I got some damage over the winter.  Maybe we'll hit 7 feet by the end of the growth season.

[SeanK]

On 11/22/2022 at 12:48 PM, Chester B said:

Probably best to stick with palms I already have then spend money on more.  I have enough palms growing out to fill another 3 lots worth, probably more.

I'd buy 5 Jubes but the Lord limited us to 120 years after the flood. Not sure how much time I have left.

[Fallen Munk]

Stuck at over six feet.  No increase in height this year.  Only two new fronds.  Last winter was rough on it.

[Banana Belt]

12 hours ago, Fallen Munk said:

Last winter was rough on it.

Last winter which extended all the way to practically summer was rough.  Third or fourth year of persistent La Nina was an ab-oration from normal, but like all cycles natural or not when things go extended and extreme to one side, reality strongly pulls it back the the other side.  Your palms first priority is to survive and then to adapt and be stronger for  better times which will come.  As long as its Heart is healthy, one year of hibernation and fasting will make it stronger. 

When it gets bigger and grows a trunk, you might see a section of leaf scars near the base which are tighter and closer together which marks those year or years of poor growth.  Many Jubaea will show this as record of that time.

[Banana Belt]

Updated picture of same Jubaea taken one year later that the 2022 picture at the top of this post.  Looks very similar but for an extra foot added to the trunk.  The smaller palm in foreground shows obvious growth.   Over 40 now, so exponential growth should slow down.  However Taper in trunk is perhaps still about 10 years off, this according to others.

[Aceraceae]

Why do they grow such superfluous trunks? 

[Banana Belt]

1 hour ago, Aceraceae said:

Why do they grow such superfluous trunks? 

Good question.  I don't know why and I have not read nor heard of a reason.  Presumably it is for survival, which suggests that a big trunk gives some kind of advantage to survive.  Jubaea are perhaps the longest living of all the Palms with some living specimens in Chile having provenance back to the 17th century.  I have not looked into the fossil record of ancient Jubaea, which could be interesting.

[Tom in Tucson]

5 hours ago, Banana Belt said:

Good question.  I don't know why and I have not read nor heard of a reason.  Presumably it is for survival, which suggests that a big trunk gives some kind of advantage to survive.  Jubaea are perhaps the longest living of all the Palms with some living specimens in Chile having provenance back to the 17th century.  I have not looked into the fossil record of ancient Jubaea, which could be interesting.

Paschalococos disperta from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is thought to be either another species of Jubaea, or a closely related genus. The only evidence is from ancient pollen, and some Polynesian drawings of a fat palm that looked a lot like the Chilean wine palm. It became extinct around 400 years ago. There are several theories about why it was wiped out.

My own theory as to why some species have excessively thick trunks is that they serve the purpose of providing some short term water storage (like belly palms, buccaneer palms, and larger California fan palms) during short drought periods. Thick rooted palms (Brahea and Ravenea xerophila) are known to use their roots to withstand even longer droughts.

Hi 80°, Lo 48°

[Aceraceae]

Where are those river bottom floodplain variety Borassus aethiopum that are supossedly a foot wider at the most (7' diameter vs 5-6). They just don't show as dramatically on images, looking more like a tall spindle palm. 

[matthedlund]

On 10/31/2023 at 9:38 PM, Tom in Tucson said:

Paschalococos disperta from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is thought to be either another species of Jubaea, or a closely related genus. The only evidence is from ancient pollen, and some Polynesian drawings of a fat palm that looked a lot like the Chilean wine palm. It became extinct around 400 years ago. There are several theories about why it was wiped out.

My own theory as to why some species have excessively thick trunks is that they serve the purpose of providing some short term water storage (like belly palms, buccaneer palms, and larger California fan palms) during short drought periods. Thick rooted palms (Brahea and Ravenea xerophila) are known to use their roots to withstand even longer droughts.

Hi 80°, Lo 48°

I had the opportunity to visit them in the wild in Chile a few years ago. The general consensus there is that the thick trunk is an adaptation against wildfires, which are common in their habitat.

[Tom in Tucson]

13 hours ago, matthedlund said:

I had the opportunity to visit them in the wild in Chile a few years ago. The general consensus there is that the thick trunk is an adaptation against wildfires, which are common in their habitat.

A quick search of the wine palm on iNaturalist revealed that their natural range extends around 50km to the north and south of Santiago. The climate in the north is desert to semi-desert. The climate in the south is much wetter, suitable for growing grapes. Very little vegetation is present in the desert, but dense vegetation occurs south of Santiago. Fire resistance seems reasonable for the cause of the enlarged trunk in the south, but that should not be much of a factor in it's ecology to the north. So that popular assumption may only be based on regional criteria.

Hi 86°, Lo 51°

[Banana Belt]

On 11/3/2023 at 8:00 PM, Tom in Tucson said:

A quick search of the wine palm on iNaturalist revealed that their natural range extends around 50km to the north and south of Santiago. The climate in the north is desert to semi-desert. The climate in the south is much wetter, suitable for growing grapes. Very little vegetation is present in the desert, but dense vegetation occurs south of Santiago. Fire resistance seems reasonable for the cause of the enlarged trunk in the south, but that should not be much of a factor in it's ecology to the north. So that popular assumption may only be based on regional criteria.

Hi 86°, Lo 51°

I have never visited Chile but I did get to hold part of a trunk of a removed Jubaea in New Zealand and it was very heavy and dense,  It did not float in water but rather sank.  The tree had died from wounds inflected by heavy equipment.  The entire tree is filled with sugary sap with high specific gravity, so either way drought, fire or both would give the Palm protection.

I have searched on the web for fossil evidence of earlier species of Jubaea but could not find any direct ancestors.  There are fossil palm trunks in Chile such as petrified wood from the Oligocene/Miocene age formations that look very similar to a Jubaea, but nothing with really thick trunks.  Paleo climate of Chile like most of the world suggests it started getting dry during the Oligocene so fossilized trunks of Jubaea ancestor probably did not have thick trunks.  Reduplicate Pinnate leaf fossils are also reported, but these could be any one of the other Cocoeae of South America. 

I also read an article from about a study of viable Jubaea nuts having floated in sea water for many months.  This was done to see if the nuts could float across the Ocean to Easter Island and still be viable.  They found that about 20 percent of the nuts would still germinate after floating in sea water for Four months.  The paper concluded that the Rapa Nui Palm probably was Jubaea.  Easter Island is not an old Island probably only a million years or so of Pleistocene age.  So a million years is probably long enough for seeds to have washed ashore on the Island and then with a tsunami to have carried the nuts inland into the Island to find soil and germinate.  Strange however other Islands in the southeast pacific do not have the same palms, however perhaps they did like the Islas De Juan Fernandez but now they too are gone.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Banana Belt

[Elim North]

I understand that Jubaea has a fair degree of cold tolerance compared to many other palms.  There are differing strategies employed among plant species for protection against freezing.  Admittedly, I'm unsure if Jubaea is ever exposed to freezing temperatures where it naturally occurs.  In some plants the accumulation of soluble sugars is one strategy used.   

So, it's purely speculative - I wonder if the high sugar content in trunk sap of Jubaea is an adaptation to survive exposure to freezing.    

[Banana Belt]

On 5/21/2024 at 8:31 PM, Elim North said:

I understand that Jubaea has a fair degree of cold tolerance compared to many other palms.  There are differing strategies employed among plant species for protection against freezing.  Admittedly, I'm unsure if Jubaea is ever exposed to freezing temperatures where it naturally occurs.  In some plants the accumulation of soluble sugars is one strategy used.   

So, it's purely speculative - I wonder if the high sugar content in trunk sap of Jubaea is an adaptation to survive exposure to freezing.    

Absolutely, your speculation has been studied and proven correct in many plants.  Sugars are all anti-freeze which is an adaptive trait.  For example, beets will concentrate sugars in the bulb to protect it from freezing so that it can resprout in spring.  Jubaea concentrate sugar sap in the trunk which protects the heart to a degree from freezing.  Young Jubaea without a trunk are susceptable to freezing and death whereas adult Jubaea with trunks can survive.  During the Ice Age the habitat where the Jubaea evolved was subject to freezing probably every year, so in kind the Jubaea Chilensis is an Ice Age palm which has survived into the Holocene.

There are many papers, reports and studies of this subject many discussed on prior "Palm Talk" threads. 

The common name for Jubaea is Chilean Wine Palm because in Chile it was in past cut down to drain the sugar sap and used to make Palm Wine.  The trunk of the Jubaea is like a big barrel of sugar sap and contains many hundreds of gallons in an adult trunk, which is slowly drained when cut down.  A log of freshly cut down Jubaea will sink in water because of its higher specific density due to the sap.

The size of the Jubaea trunk together with its saturation with sap also gives it fire protection another adaptive trait.