Chamaedorea radicalis (arborescent form) flowering twice a year?

[Arecaceus]

My Chamaedorea radicalis has put out flowers this spring and developped fruits right away which disappeared over the past months. I saw lots of ants on the inflorescence all the time. I guess they might have something to do with it. Today I randomly discovered that it's pushing out new flowers for the second time this year and also pretty late as we're almost in October. I couldn't find any information about them flowering several times a year and I also don't know of any palm species that does that. Is this normal or does this have to do with the fact that the earlier fruits have not been able to fully develop before they got eaten away?

I just took a picture of it. You see the old inflorescence still on to the upper right and the new one to the lower left:

[Fusca]

41 minutes ago, Hortulanus said:

My Chamaedorea radicalis has put out flowers this spring and developped fruits right away which disappeared over the past months. I saw lots of ants on the inflorescence all the time. I guess they might have something to do with it. Today I randomly discovered that it's pushing out new flowers for the second time this year and also pretty late as we're almost in October. I couldn't find any information about them flowering several times a year and I also don't know of any palm species that does that. Is this normal or does this have to do with the fact that the earlier fruits have not been able to fully develop before they got eaten away?

I just took a picture of it. You see the old inflorescence still on to the upper right and the new one to the lower left:

I'm assuming that the fruits stayed green and didn't ripen.  Most likely there was no male Chamaedorea flowering nearby to pollinate your female radicalis but that doesn't have anything to do with it flowering again.  It's normal to have multiple inflorescences in a growing season - there are several species of palms that do this.

[Arecaceus]

7 minutes ago, Fusca said:

I'm assuming that the fruits stayed green and didn't ripen.  Most likely there was no male Chamaedorea flowering nearby to pollinate your female radicalis but that doesn't have anything to do with it flowering again.  It's normal to have multiple inflorescences in a growing season - there are several species of palms that do this.

Oh I thought they were monoecious. I didn't know any palms doing that. Which species do that for example?

Thank you!

[Fusca]

31 minutes ago, Hortulanus said:

Oh I thought they were monoecious. I didn't know any palms doing that. Which species do that for example?

Thank you!

Washingtonia sp., Syagrus romanzoffiana, and Butia odorata are some cold hardy examples that flower multiple times in warmer climates but rarely if ever at the limits of their cold hardiness.  My largest Chamaedorea radicalis has flowered at least twice this year.  I've seen it with multiple inflorescences at the same time in the past.

[Arecaceus]

44 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Washingtonia sp., Syagrus romanzoffiana, and Butia odorata are some cold hardy examples that flower multiple times in warmer climates but rarely if ever at the limits of their cold hardiness.  My largest Chamaedorea radicalis has flowered at least twice this year.  I've seen it with multiple inflorescences at the same time in the past.

Wow! This is actually blowing my mind. I didn't know that but it makes sense as some subtropical/tropical plant species also drop their leaves at our latitude while in the tropics and some subtropical regions they stay green all year. Thanks for the information.

[DoomsDave]

@Hortulanus

Guten Tag!

Please take a picture of the ends of the flower spikes of your plant. If that's the only one you have, you'll need others.

Chamadoreas are dioecious, meaning male and female on separate plants (like people, dogs, cats, whales, and Bismarckia palms, among other organisms).

Also see my PM.

dave

[Arecaceus]

54 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

@Hortulanus

Guten Tag!

Please take a picture of the ends of the flower spikes of your plant. If that's the only one you have, you'll need others.

Chamadoreas are dioecious, meaning male and female on separate plants (like people, dogs, cats, whales, and Bismarckia palms, among other organisms).

Also see my PM.

dave

My phone couldn't focus on that small end so I didn't take a picture. Currently the old stock is not carrying seeds anymore and the new one hasn't fully opened.
I know about dioecious palms. Most of my palms are dioecious and also the most common planted ones in my area like Trachycarpus and Chamaerops. For some reason I just thought Chamaedorea were not. I might plant some more arborescent radicalis in the future but for now I'm happy.

Thank you!

[DAVEinMB]

@Hortulanus

I have c. radicalis and c. microspadix and they both flower year round

[Arecaceus]

10 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

@Hortulanus

I have c. radicalis and c. microspadix and they both flower year round

How cold hardy is C. microspadix compared to radicalis?

[DAVEinMB]

14 minutes ago, Hortulanus said:

How cold hardy is C. microspadix compared to radicalis?

radicalis has been a good bit tougher for me both in freezing rain and dry cold scenarios. Both have seen 13F as an ultimate low as well as 17F (iirc) with freezing rain and I've lost stalks on the microspadix whereas the radicalis hasn't flinched. However, the advantage microspadix has is its clumping habit so if it gets cold enough to completely kill existing growth it will likely return from the root stock 

[Jim in Los Altos]

I have several species of Chamaedorea including radicalis tree form and they all flower and fruit year round in my 10a Northern CA garden except C. costaricana with its springtime bloom cycle. (Pictured)

[Palmiz]

I have a non trunking radicalis that I haven't really seen any male flowers around yet and has set seed. The seeds just recently sprouted so they are viable. Haven't seen male flowers yet from my other Chamaedoreas but there is always that possibility, i find it hard to determine male and femlae flowers onbdifferent varieties. There is known types of radicalis as palmpedia shows, some are monoecious. I also have a Klotzschiana that is producing fruit but only have one growing. Not sure if those can be monoecious but i did put plumosa pollen that i jarred up just for fun, but I sure hope the seeds will be viable.

[happypalms]

My chamaedorea adscedans flowers twice a year  in a subtropical climate the first photos are male flowers and the lsat are female flowers of adscendans I hand pollinate them plus a couple of Radicalis for you 

[Arecaceus]

9 hours ago, Palmiz said:

I have a non trunking radicalis that I haven't really seen any male flowers around yet and has set seed. The seeds just recently sprouted so they are viable. Haven't seen male flowers yet from my other Chamaedoreas but there is always that possibility, i find it hard to determine male and femlae flowers onbdifferent varieties. There is known types of radicalis as palmpedia shows, some are monoecious. I also have a Klotzschiana that is producing fruit but only have one growing. Not sure if those can be monoecious but i did put plumosa pollen that i jarred up just for fun, but I sure hope the seeds will be viable.

That's interesting. I also have seen solitary planted radicalis that had seeds on them. Fully ripe red seeds. Not a guarantee for viabilty but still... I'll just wait. Maybe they do produce seed if they're alone in their spot for a certain amount of time. I also know about Trachys that sometimes become monoecious and they were all without a pollinating male nearby. Just a thesis.

[Coconut Jared]

On 9/27/2023 at 11:09 PM, DAVEinMB said:

radicalis has been a good bit tougher for me both in freezing rain and dry cold scenarios. Both have seen 13F as an ultimate low as well as 17F (iirc) with freezing rain and I've lost stalks on the microspadix whereas the radicalis hasn't flinched. However, the advantage microspadix has is its clumping habit so if it gets cold enough to completely kill existing growth it will likely return from the root stock 

Where did you get your Butia odorata? I have looked everywhere online and can’t even find seeds of the trunking version.

[Harry’s Palms]

Mine produce seeds from an early stage , at the base of the plant . As they mature , they produce seed further up the stem. I have singles that freely produce viable seeds without any other inflorescence around. It all started , for me , when I was visiting a palm nursery in Rancho Soledad 25 years ago. They had about 10 squat pots with 7’ Radicalis plants , some with bright red fruit , maybe 6-7 stems in each pot. They said they thought the seeds were not viable because they could not verify any male/female plants. Boy , were they wrong . They are now infilling around my other palms . I haven’t counted how many of these palms I have , it would take a while! Harry

[DAVEinMB]

12 hours ago, Coconut Jared said:

Where did you get your Butia odorata? I have looked everywhere online and can’t even find seeds of the trunking version.

Hey Jared, did you mean chamaedorea radicalis? All of mine came from a local palmtalker but I have seen them for sale online at jungle music, they're a nursery in Southern California

[Coconut Jared]

1 hour ago, DAVEinMB said:

Hey Jared, did you mean chamaedorea radicalis? All of mine came from a local palmtalker but I have seen them for sale online at jungle music, they're a nursery in Southern California

Yes I did, sorry!