Skinny Trunk Palms

[D. Morrowii]

I’m trying to think of as many skinny trunked solitary palms for a list that I can pick garden candidates from.
I like to think of palms in 4 categories when it comes to trunk diameter.

1. Wispy thin - less than 2” like some chamaedoria species. 
2. Skinny trunked - 3-5” like Ptychosperma elegans. 
3. Medium sized - 6-10” like Veitchia or Wodyetia

4. Large - 12-36” like Sabals Attaleas etc. 

Here’s the what I’ve got so far for the skinny list. What others should be on this list?

Ptychosperma elegans 

Euterpe edulis 

Pinanga javana

Dypsis rosea

Basselinia pancheri

Basselinia glabrata

Chambeyronia divaricata

Brassiophoenix drymophloeoides

Normanbya normanbyi

Thrinax radiata

Chamaedorea tepejilote

[Pal Meir]

[D. Morrowii]

Those do fit the description @Pal Meir Plus I have a 2 gal. weddellianum waiting in the bull pen. 

[Looking Glass]

Most Coccothrinax and Leucothrinax morrelii stay pretty thin.  

[bubba]

Like this?

[PalmatierMeg]

A number of other Ptychosperma, i.e., burretianum, waitianum, have very thin trunks.

[D. Morrowii]

2 hours ago, bubba said:

Like this?

Wow! 😂 Its certainly skinny and tall!

[bubba]

P. elegans-older specimen!

[D. Morrowii]

6 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Most Coccothrinax and Leucothrinax morrelii stay pretty thin.  

Palmpedia says Leucothrinax morrelii gets up to 14” diameter?
Looks like Coccothrinax Argentata, borhidiana and barbadensis are all under 8” I imagine these might be occasionally in stock at Caribbean Palms but dont remember seeing them at any of the sales I’ve been to. I think maybe MB palms had some at Leu last year though. 

[Looking Glass]

34 minutes ago, D. Morrowii said:

Palmpedia says Leucothrinax morrelii gets up to 14” diameter?
Looks like Coccothrinax Argentata, borhidiana and barbadensis are all under 8” I imagine these might be occasionally in stock at Caribbean Palms but dont remember seeing them at any of the sales I’ve been to. I think maybe MB palms had some at Leu last year though. 

That’s definitely bigger than I thought.  

Edited July 29, 2023 by Looking Glass

[Brad52]

I have Chrysalidocarpus psammophilus and Areca guppyana to add to the 2”ish group 

[peachy]

7 hours ago, Brad52 said:

I have Chrysalidocarpus psammophilus and Areca guppyana to add to the 2”ish group 

My two favourite murder choices. Just call me Mrs Bundy around them,

Peachy

[Johnny Palmseed]

14 hours ago, D. Morrowii said:

Palmpedia says Leucothrinax morrelii gets up to 14” diameter?
Looks like Coccothrinax Argentata, borhidiana and barbadensis are all under 8” I imagine these might be occasionally in stock at Caribbean Palms but dont remember seeing them at any of the sales I’ve been to. I think maybe MB palms had some at Leu last year though. 

I only have one single Leucothrinax Morrelii but I would describe it as medium. I did a quick check and it’s about 12-13” vs my Thrinax Radiata which are all about 6” except for the slightly swollen base. They are all about the same age. The C. Pembana are small but are usually clustering. Sometimes there are solitary forms available.

[D. Morrowii]

14 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

That’s definitely bigger than I thought.  

I went back and reread it and it does say it ranges between 2” and 14”.  That seems like a huge variance. @Johnny Palmseed confirms the larger diameter below.

13 hours ago, Brad52 said:

I have Chrysalidocarpus psammophilus and Areca guppyana to add to the 2”ish group 

I will try psammophilus one of these days but I get the feeling that guppyana would be a tough one here. Such a neat palm though. Either way added to the list! Thanks

5 hours ago, peachy said:

My two favourite murder choices. Just call me Mrs Bundy around them,

Peachy

@peachy I can surely understand why and I have a hit list myself. I’m rapidly becoming the #1 Bentinkia condapanna killer around here…

39 minutes ago, Johnny Palmseed said:I only have one single Leucothrinax Morrelii but I would describe it as medium. I did a quick check and it’s about 12-13” vs my Thrinax Radiata which are all about 6” except for the slightly swollen base. They are all about the same age. The C. Pembana are small but are usually clustering. Sometimes there are solitary forms available.

A solitary pembana would certainly land in that category. I wonder at what stage you can tell if they are going to cluster or not? Added to the list thanks!

[Johnny Palmseed]

2 hours ago, D. Morrowii said:

A solitary pembana would certainly land in that category. I wonder at what stage you can tell if they are going to cluster or not? Added to the list thanks!

I’m pretty sure @NatureGirl sells them sometimes. I would PM her to get details. Mine are clustering.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Johnny Palmseed

[Merlyn]

@Brad52 I'd forgotten about Psammophila, apparently they took no damage at the 2009 long-duration 29F freeze at Leu Gardens.  I think they were in a shaded area, so most likely they were protected from frost.  But it might be a good 9B option under canopy!

I've been more interested in skinny palms recently, just because I've run out of space for monsters. 

[Brad52]

11 hours ago, peachy said:

My two favourite murder choices. Just call me Mrs Bundy around them,

Peachy

One person’s murder victim is another’s ‘hey, this palm is just weird enough for this spot’ and not too tall.

[Palmfarmer]

On 7/29/2023 at 9:15 AM, Looking Glass said:

Most Coccothrinax and Leucothrinax morrelii stay pretty thin.  

Very cool it looks like a Skinny Bismarckia.  What is the hardiness on those palms? 

[mnorell]

My own observations are that Leucothrinax morrissii will be about 8" or maybe 10" diameter if well-grown, especially growing naturally from seed in their native habitat. I had a few beefy trees on our property on Big Pine Key that were far larger in both diameter and leaf-size than the slender plants I would see installed in commercial landscapes. Most of those I imagine are B&B/field-grown or possibly even transplanted from the wild, and perhaps they are grown in such a way that they are on the small side, but I often wondered if there aren't a couple of different ecotypes of this species because the difference was so great compared to those coming in from Miami.

Big Pine is a sea of Leucothrinax and Coccothrinax argentata, in places about as far as the eye can see it is forested with these two species as dominant elements. The Coccothrinax argentata are definitely the most slender, mostly in the vicinity of 4" for those that were natural, mature volunteers we had on our property, or growing wild on the open land on Big Pine. And I think you'll find Coccothrinax barbadensis (sold often under the name "Coccothrinax alta") typically available in the nursery trade in South Florida, presumably because it is one of the fastest Coccothrinax. It has a trunk about the same diameter as C. argentata, with an attractive, large leaf-blade, not so deeply split... I rarely saw C. argentata for sale in nurseries, probably because it is very slow and less profitable. C. barbadensis is much more affordable usually.

I personally favor Thrinax radiata for a slender fan palm since it is pretty cheap, available, easy, a little slow but beautiful at all sizes...and really just a wonderful palm IMHO. You might also look at Cryosophila, that is a genus of really neat and unusual-looking fan palms and they have rather slender trunks, and they have some good cold-hardiness, to the mid/upper 20s roughly, so perhaps a very good choice for your location.

[Merlyn]

@mnorell Cryosophila Warscewiczii is definitely a good choice, I managed to find two of them from a CA nursery.  One was in the ground for the 24-26F lows here in January 2022, and it was maybe 50% burned but recovered just fine.  Mine are both pretty small, but here's two nice ones at Leu Gardens:

[Looking Glass]

3 hours ago, Palmfarmer said:

Very cool it looks like a Skinny Bismarckia.  What is the hardiness on those palms? 

I know that both can tolerate down to 28 degrees for brief periods.  But I don’t have to worry about temps like that here, so I don’t know how far you could push things beyond that.  

[Kaname-kun]

Almost all the Pinangas. Don't forget the Pinangas? Maculata, caesia, wataniana, philippinensis, Thai mottled, sierramadreana, javana, . . . . Speciosa can get a slightly meatier trunk. But they are all Zone 10b, so maybe not for you.

[D. Morrowii]

2 hours ago, Kaname-kun said:

Almost all the Pinangas. Don't forget the Pinangas? Maculata, caesia, wataniana, philippinensis, Thai mottled, sierramadreana, javana, . . . . Speciosa can get a slightly meatier trunk. But they are all Zone 10b, so maybe not for you.

I agree, don't forget the Pinangas! Javana was already on the original list and sounds more like a 10a palm from what I’ve read but we shall see. A lot of the others you mention are beautiful and skinny but also clumping and I was only looking for solitary palms for the list. Ceasia is a good one that I didn't think of as skinny for some reason but I’ll add it! Thanks

[Kim]

 

Hydriastele beguinii, esp. 'Obi Island form'

Pinanga caesia, among other Pinanga

Areca caliso, Areca vestiaria, among other Areca

Actinorhytis calapparia -- mine are very skinny, but shade grown

Bentinckia nicobarica

Chrysalidocarpus basilongus, Chrysalidocarpus saintelucei

Euterpe edulis,, E. precatoria, etc.

I don't know what you can grow in your location, but I have these and they are all in the thinner category.  I have seen some (i.e. C. saintelucei) that are a little fatter in areas with much better soil, but still not big fatties. 

If you can tolerate a clustering palm, Hydriastele rheophytica is a beauty.  (see photo)

 

[D. Morrowii]

2 hours ago, Kim said:

 

Hydriastele beguinii, esp. 'Obi Island form'

Pinanga caesia, among other Pinanga

Areca caliso, Areca vestiaria, among other Areca

Actinorhytis calapparia -- mine are very skinny, but shade grown

Bentinckia nicobarica

Chrysalidocarpus basilongus, Chrysalidocarpus saintelucei

Euterpe edulis,, E. precatoria, etc.

I don't know what you can grow in your location, but I have these and they are all in the thinner category.  I have seen some (i.e. C. saintelucei) that are a little fatter in areas with much better soil, but still not big fatties. 

If you can tolerate a clustering palm, Hydriastele rheophytica is a beauty.  (see photo)

 

Kim, I’m in a weak zone 10a. So yes some of those are either not possible or just difficult. Still great suggestions to put on the list if by some chance it might be of use to others. I’d never even heard of Actinorhytis calapparia before, neat looking palm too! I’d like to think that an Obi Island will work here so I do plan to get one in the ground, probably next spring. Thank you!

[howfam]

I would add Washingtonia robusta (pure breed), very thin for its impressive height, Pritchardia Pacifica, Cyphophoenix elegans.

[D. Morrowii]

I threw all the ones that made sense (to me) on to the list and added their zone or an estimate of it. I was going to add their expected trunk diameters but it was getting convoluted. Basically they should range from about 3-6” theres a couple smaller ones in there though. 
 

Cryosophila Warscewiczii 9b

Chamaedorea tepejilote 9b

Lytocaryum weddellianum 9b

Euterpe edulis 9b

Chyphophoenix elegans 9b

Basselinia glabrata 9b/10a

Chambeyronia divaricata 9b/10a

Normanbya normanbyi 9b/10a

Thrinax radiata 9b/10a

Coccothrinax borhidiana 9b/10a

Coccothrinax argentata 9a/b

Brassiophoenix drymophloeoides 10a?

Coccothrinax barbadensis 9b/10a

Ptychosperma elegans 9b/10a

Adoznidia merrillii 10a

Basselinia pancheri 10a

Pinanga javana 10a

Cyphosperma naboutinense 10a

Dypsis rosea 10a

Chrysalidocarpus psammophilus 10a

Chrysalidocarpus pembanus 10a

Chrysalidocarpus saintlucei 10a

Chrysalidocarpus basilongus 10a

Pinanga ceasia 10a/b

Hydriastele beguinii obi island 10a/b

Areca guppyana 10b

Areca caliso 10B

Areca ipot 10b

Areca guppyana 10b

Areca vestiaria 10a/b

Areca triandra 10a

Actinorhytis calapparia 10b/11