The Bluest Palm

[Neofolis]

The thread about the very blue Brahea armata, inspired me to start a new thread to try to find the bluest palm.  Photo evidence will be required, no editing please.  I suppose it is a little subjective, as some "blue" palms are very pale and others have a more saturated hue, but I'm sure being an amicable bunch we can come to an agreement as to which is the bluest.

I have noticed some fairly blue palms amongst my photos, so I will post those to get the ball rolling.

To start one of Bismarckia nobilis photos from the Palmetum at Tenerife.  Not the often seen pale blue, but still fairly blue.

[Neofolis]

This Butia capitata at Kew exhibits the more traditional pale blue hue.

This Chamaerops humilis, also at Kew and clearly not var.cerifera, still seems to have quite a bluish hue.  The ones at Kew seem to be bluer inside and greener outside, suggesting environment is somewhat responsible.

I have a few pictures of Brahea armata, but none as blue as the one in the other thread.  There seem to be a few Coccothrinax and Trithrinax that have a bit of blue to them.  Which others can you show here?

[LJG]

(Neofolis @ Sep. 17 2007,01:32)

QUOTE

This Chamaerops humilis, also at Kew and clearly not var.cerifera, still seems to have quite a bluish hue.  The ones at Kew seem to be bluer inside and greener outside, suggesting environment is somewhat responsible.

Not enviornment, but a plant variation. Some of the tree companies call it a 'silver back' here. When they get big, they look nice with the whitish-blue underside. Like the one at kew, it seems this form is usually what RLR called pendent segiment form. They have the long petioles - which I am not a fan of. I like the shorter petioles, giving it a more compact looking crown. Also, the longer petioles in this case are not shade or light enduced.

Here is one I took a new Coccothrinax "Azul" leaf.

[sonoranfans]

"bluest" is a subjective term of course as it really does not describe a color.  the color of a palm depends on ambient lighting, for example humidity removes red from white light, making the ambient light more blue, and hence any object that it falls on more blue.  A good example is how a white plaster pool, when filled, looks like it has blue water.  My bismarckias look most blue on cloudy days near the edges of the day when the light passes through the most water vapor.  I have a number of braheas(7), all are quite blue, that is powder blue.  Here is perhaps my most "powder blue" brahea, by a narrow margin.

[Kris]

Dear friends  

lovely stills & please keep them comming...

love,

Kris  

[sonoranfans]

here is another blue palm a chamaerops cerifera that I bought on ebay.  It is an almost ice blue on the newer fronds.  My experience with cerifera is that they become more blue as they age and are exposed to full sun.

[Exotic Life]

very nice pics.... I want to see more blue

[sonoranfans]

here is my largest(and least blue) brahea near sunset.  This picture I call "greyghost", as the palm seems ghostly in the fading light.  Note the tips of a bluer brahea just to the right.  I actually love the diversity of the color in my palms, I dont want every one to be powder blue, greens and blue greens create a whole palate of color.

[sonoranfans]

Here is a pic that contains some of the pallette of color.  It was taken just after the jan '07 freeze as much of the non palms are dead here.  Incredibly my braheas became more blue with the loss of the surrounding canopy, and they grew faster as well.

[jfkotas]

Here are a few more Bismarckia's that had to be the bluest palms I've ever seen. They are at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center in Florida, which has a nice population of other interesting palms and cycads in their landscape as well.

[Brad-Tampa]

How about Seranoa repens and Hyphaene coriacea

[sonoranfans]

(Brad-Tampa @ Sep. 17 2007,16:04)

QUOTE

How about Seranoa repens and Hyphaene coriacea

very nice, I have 2 serenoa repens seedlings(silver phase), hopefully they will look as beautiful as those someday.

[Kris]

this our bizie lady in our terrace gardens in south india_

[Kris]

this is breha armeta growing in terrace top !

[BS Man about Palms]

Heres one you wouldn't suspect...kinda blue.

???

[bgl]

If you're asking me, seems like many of these palms are more grey than blue...! ???  When it comes to real blue, not too many can compete with Dictyocaryum lamarckianum. Here's one that just lost an old frond, so it's really more purple than blue.

[bgl]

And after a couple of weeks, I'd say they're definitely blue!

[BS Man about Palms]

Leave it to Bo to blow away my pretty picture of my K. piersoniorum leaf...

[Kris]

Dear Bo Goran  

your palms are terrefic and they have close resemblence to birds of paradise flowers..and my eyes are finding it hard to believe its colours...so unnaturally beautiful(like artificial plastic palms)..

thanks for those lovely stills,

love,

Kris  

[PalmGuyWC]

I have 3 Serenoa that I bought at the S. Fla. palm sales over the years. There were a number of plants to pick from, and I picked out the bluest of the blue. After growing in N. Calif. for several years (slowly) they have lost most of the blue. I can't figgure it out. One would think growing in the bright Calif. sun, they would be even more blue.

Dick

[Brad-Tampa]

Dick, The Seranoa in the picture that I posted was originally dug from across the street from Dent Smith's house. As you know the "bluist" saw palmettos occur naturally along the east coast beach strand. However more inland to the west are naturally occuring populations of a mix of green with blue specimens. The blue plants will hold their color throughout Florida when grown outside their natural range, so it appears to be genetic. It is curious why yours appear to "fade' in Calif.

Bo, What a beautiful palm! But what about blue fruit as in Livistona?

Brad

[PalmGuyWC]

Brad,

I'm very familiar with the very Serenoa that grows on your property as I've seen it many times.  It's one of the nicest forms I've ever seen, and so robust.

I remember years ago that Dent Smith had a small Serenoa growing at the driveway entrance to his property. It was silver/white and I've never seen another that had so much color.

Dick

[Palmtrader]

Phoenix theophrasti has to get a mention. This is my bluest.

[GREENHAND]

small bismarckia in the ground.

[GREENHAND]

larger one in a pot

[GREENHAND]

two more bizzys in pots

[GREENHAND]

this pindo is i little blue

[coolricksfromtijuana]

Couple of mature Armata found in Ensenada near the beach.

Sorry I had to edit the pics were toooo smalls

[GREENHAND]

this is my only Brahea Armata

[canelgat]

Nannorhops ritchiana, sorry just a seedling. Lets see in a few years...

[SunnyFl]

(bgl @ Sep. 24 2007,23:41)

QUOTE

If you're asking me, seems like many of these palms are more grey than blue...! ???  When it comes to real blue, not too many can compete with Dictyocaryum lamarckianum. Here's one that just lost an old frond, so it's really more purple than blue.

OMG!!  That purple! and the blue!  gaaaaasp!

Bo - it is astonishly beautiful, there aren't words to describe something like that.  Unreal.

Corey - thanks for starting this topic.  I'd like to see more of the blues (and the silver).  Anyone have pix of blue latan?  B. decumbens?

LJG - how old is your Azul?   The leaf on yours is much more silver than mine.