Hospita or Fallaensis?

[Kaname-kun]

I picked up this 15-gal today as Copernicia hospita, but I'm wondering if it is C. fallaensis? Any tips for distinguishing them? The leaves seem much thicker and broader than my admittedly smaller (7-gal) hospitas . . . 

[Darold Petty]

really nice palm, whatever ID !  

[sonoranfans]

Im going to say it looks more like my fallaensis than my hospita(both are 15 gallon).  Fallaensis is heavier in petiole and more blunt leaves(less taper).  Both have the black teeth but the fallaensis leaf stems are notably thicker(3/4") at the base vs hospita 15 gallon( about 1/2")

[aztropic]

Just another hybrid... Looks more like a hospita/baileyana cross to me,favoring the bailey. Cool looking palm regardless of it's heritage.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[sonoranfans]

Doesnt look like hospita at all to me and its heavier in the petioles than my bailey was at that size.  Fallaensis are bluish, hospitas are blue(in the blue form).  This palm looks a lot like my 15 gallon fallaensis on the right, the 15 gallon hospitas (2nd to the right) have less rigid leaflets, less blunt.  Could it be bailey x fallaensis?  Yes its possible.  In south florida fallaensis are not that rare as theya re out west.  Its a pretty, good looking palm and I'm sure it will do well in south florida, the cubans do well here.  It wants to be in the ground at that size, cant happen fast enough.  Sometimes cuban copernicias look different in other climates(photos ive seen), but it looks more like fallaensis than the other two, though it could perhaps a hybrid.  

[NatureGirl]

2 hours ago, aztropic said:

Just another hybrid... Looks more like a hospita/baileyana cross to me,favoring the bailey. Cool looking palm regardless of it's heritage.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

Agree, looks like a hybrid.

[sonoranfans]

Actually you cannot tell the difference between a blue bailey and fallaensis in morphology till they get larger, let alone differentiating a hybrid.  I had the same comment on here with my fallaensis when I bought it twelve years ago.   Ken johnson said he could not guarantee pure fallaensis, others said "probably a hybrid", but those comments were incorrect as the leaf length vs width at maturity lined right up to charlie becks white paper. at 1.6:1 where bailey is more round at about 1.2 to 1.3:1.   Those black throrns will mostly fade if it is a fallaensis and the petioles will turn whitish/waxy looking.  If its a blue bailey, you got a great palm there, not so common.  The best bet is to know where the seed came from or wait till its gets big.  It does look awfully close to my 15 gallon fallaensis and not like any hospita I have seen.

[Kaname-kun]

Thanks to all for the helpful comments. I went back to the same nursery the next day and bought a true hospita, which looks exactly like my other smaller hospita only 25 gals worth. I don't see how I or the vendor could ever think the first plant was a hospita.  I think I was swept away in the field of blue .. . . The first purchase is very blue and hefty, so I'm going with fallaensis for now. It was sitting with a couple other similar plants at the back of the row of 15-gal hospita. Now I have both, I guess, though not sure I have a place for a fallaensis in my limited space.  

[Merlyn]

@Kaname-kunblasphemy!!!  There's always a space for a Fallaensis!!!    I bought a 3 gallon Fallaensis in December 2018, and 4 years later in the ground it's finally as big as your 15g pot.  The fans on mine are a bit more "pointed" or "ovalized" where your first photo looks a bit more rounded.  As a likely hybrid it might be a bit smaller than a pure Fallaensis.

[sonoranfans]

that is a nice hospita there, congrats!  Even if your palm is a blue bailey its a gorgeous palm!  Normally I would say that the price of fallaensis is about $200 or more for that size, so you would think that wouldn't happen as you would keep the label nearby.  Only reason I could see someone thought it a hospita, is that hospita, blue bailey and fallaensis can show that blue.  My little bailey didnt quite have those rigid leaves that my fallaense has, and of course my bailey was green.  I've seen a number of fallaense 15 gallon size and they all have that same look, rigid and stiff looking.  At first I thought that your palm cant be a fallaensis due to its mislabeling because the value difference(~2x), but with all that hurricane damage down there recently I expect some stock was salvaged, sold off and mislabeled.  I have a large fallaensis with 9' clean trunk, they run 20' + wide in the crown, at least mine did before Ian, Ian gave it a vertical buzz cut on the windward side.  Here it is 2 years before Ian.  Its going to take 3 years or so for them to recover fully from Ian.

[carmel]

Looks like a Fallensis

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6 by carmel
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