Mystery Palm of Northern Peru - The Saga Continues

[agroventuresperu]

I don't think anyone guessed correctly in my original thread about this palm: 

 

Now that the specimens are larger, I went ahead and took some photos of the largest specimen today. Hopefully someone can ID now. Unfortunately, no inflorescence yet.

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2024 by agroventuresperu

[Leelanau Palms]

Unable to view your pictures.

[Little Tex]

12 minutes ago, Leelanau Palms said:

Unable to view your pictures.

I can see them so it must be on your end, 

as for the palm it looks like an arenga engleri

[Leelanau Palms]

47 minutes ago, Leelanau Palms said:

Unable to view your pictures.

Sorry, ended up being a bandwidth issue. Apologies

[agroventuresperu]

3 hours ago, Little Tex said:

I can see them so it must be on your end, 

as for the palm it looks like an arenga engleri

There are a number of reasons this doesn't jive:

palm rarely grows more than 10 ft (3.1 m) tall - This one is already ten feet tall and only 4 years old. 

The stems are cloaked with delicate black fibers - No.

good drainage - No. Since it was sold to me as Huacai (sister plant of Acai) we planted most of them in areas of permanently saturated soil (Aquult soils) and they do well in those spots. 

The origin - While not out of the question, it's more likely that it's from the americas. Nurseries here usually don't have many exotic plants.

Maybe you've identified the genus though?

Edited February 16, 2024 by agroventuresperu

[Harry’s Palms]

Arena Engleri are Caryotiods with jagged ends. Very stiff dark green fronds with whitish silver under side

[tim_brissy_13]

Any reason why you’ve ruled out Prestoea acuminata var acuminata? I upvoted someone else’s suggestion for this in the original thread and its growth seems to still be consistent with this species. It looks like the old leaf base on the largest stem is about to drop - I think if you took a shot of the crownshaft once this happens then ID will be clearer. 
 

By the way, yes definitely agree it is certainly not Arenga, nor E precatoria as originally sold to you under. 

[richnorm]

Prestoea sp maybe?

[tim_brissy_13]

5 minutes ago, richnorm said:

Prestoea sp maybe?

Was hoping you’d chime in Rich with your P acuminata growing expertise!

[agroventuresperu]

37 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Any reason why you’ve ruled out Prestoea acuminata var acuminata? I upvoted someone else’s suggestion for this in the original thread and its growth seems to still be consistent with this species. It looks like the old leaf base on the largest stem is about to drop - I think if you took a shot of the crownshaft once this happens then ID will be clearer. 
 

By the way, yes definitely agree it is certainly not Arenga, nor E precatoria as originally sold to you under. 

Don't see any photos where they are clumping to the degree this specimen is. No red ribs. Markedly red aerial roots. 

You can see some of the crownshaft in some of my photos.

And I haven't ruled it out. Just not convinced. Definitely the closest that anyone has suggested so far.

Edited February 16, 2024 by agroventuresperu

[richnorm]

51 minutes ago, agroventuresperu said:

Don't see any photos where they are clumping to the degree this specimen is. No red ribs. Markedly red aerial roots. 

You can see some of the crownshaft in some of my photos.

And I haven't ruled it out. Just not convinced. Definitely the closest that anyone has suggested so far.

They can lack the red ribs and crownshaft altogether.  Pretty sure I have seen red roots on mine though this is quite a common trait in palms.

[richnorm]

Forgot to mention, they can clump up more than your plant. They seem extremely variable.

[JohnStraz]

definitely not Arenga of any kind

[agroventuresperu]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:03 PM, tim_brissy_13 said:

Any reason why you’ve ruled out Prestoea acuminata var acuminata? I upvoted someone else’s suggestion for this in the original thread and its growth seems to still be consistent with this species. It looks like the old leaf base on the largest stem is about to drop - I think if you took a shot of the crownshaft once this happens then ID will be clearer. 
 

By the way, yes definitely agree it is certainly not Arenga, nor E precatoria as originally sold to you under. 

Crownshaft

[tim_brissy_13]

1 hour ago, agroventuresperu said:

Crownshaft

Is still lean towards P acuminata seeing this. 

[kylecawazafla]

I'll just chime in with these photos I took of Prestoea acuminata growing at Bogota Botanical Gardens in Colombia. 

[agroventuresperu]

Here are some photos of another specimen that was fairly shaded by some weedy shrubs up until a couple days ago. I don't know why but all the photos I see online seem different. The fronds seem different to me.

 

[richnorm]

They vary and you must be at the upper limits temperature wise .  I think the ID is pretty solid.

[agroventuresperu]

"Likes rich, very well drained soil. Usually prefers some shade unless the humidity is very high." (Brandt Maxwell)

This is an interesting quote from Palmpedia. Mine are planted in areas with permanently saturated soil or almost permanently saturated soil.

[richnorm]

6 hours ago, agroventuresperu said:

"Likes rich, very well drained soil. Usually prefers some shade unless the humidity is very high." (Brandt Maxwell)

This is an interesting quote from Palmpedia. Mine are planted in areas with permanently saturated soil or almost permanently saturated soil.

I grow it on heavy clay in a high rainfall area (over 2m last year). There's plenty of slope but it's very heavy soil and always damp.