Nice color on Syagrus romanzoffiana

[Fusca]

Spotted this at a local big box store yesterday.  Not an unusual palm but unusual color on the leaf bases!  I've never seen this much color on a queen palm before.  The fronds look normal - in fact everything about the palm looks typical except for the color.  It was the largest and most beefy of the entire lot so it really stood out.

[Fusca]

Apparently there are some palms like this out there but I don't think it's common.  The color seems to be less obvious as the palm trunks as seen in the photos in the thread below.  I also posted this photo in this thread but thought it should be posted in this forum also.

 

[Dwarf Fan]

Very cool coloring on that Queen, thanks for sharing your observation.

My mind immediately thinks hmm:

“I wonder if a Burgundy Queen be more cold Hardy…”

[MarcusH]

I haven't seen a Queen palm with wine colored trunks but from my research it shows that this coloration isn't that uncommon among Queen palms. There's an old thread about this same subject but none of them could really say why some of them had this wine color.  Apparently it grows out as the palm matures from what I've read. Only some expert could chime in. 

[Fusca]

9 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I haven't seen a Queen palm with wine colored trunks but from my research it shows that this coloration isn't that uncommon among Queen palms. There's an old thread about this same subject but none of them could really say why some of them had this wine color.  Apparently it grows out as the palm matures from what I've read. Only some expert could chime in. 

Marcus, can you share your research results showing that this degree of coloration isn't that uncommon as you stated?  The only threads I found here that mention the purple coloring on queen palms are the one I posted in my first post and this one below which only show small amounts of purple.  I have seen some slight purple coloring in palms I have grown but have never personally seen any with the amount of color in this palm.  And I have been through several Houston Garden Centers (with dozens of queen palms in inventory) multiple times per year over the past 24 years of growing palms in Texas and this is a first for me.  @Xenon, have you seen such a purple queen?  

 

[Fusca]

15 hours ago, Dwarf Fan said:

My mind immediately thinks hmm:

“I wonder if a Burgundy Queen be more cold Hardy…”

I thought this as well when I read @Nigel's post from 2010.  The palms he found in Santa Catarina were in high elevation location where they would see some frigid temps.  I believe that the extra cold hardiness (if it has any) is due to it's girth which probably adds some protection to the bud.

[MarcusH]

2 hours ago, Fusca said:

Marcus, can you share your research results showing that this degree of coloration isn't that uncommon as you stated?  The only threads I found here that mention the purple coloring on queen palms are the one I posted in my first post and this one below which only show small amounts of purple.  I have seen some slight purple coloring in palms I have grown but have never personally seen any with the amount of color in this palm.  And I have been through several Houston Garden Centers (with dozens of queen palms in inventory) multiple times per year over the past 24 years of growing palms in Texas and this is a first for me.  @Xenon, have you seen such a purple queen?  

 

I've tagged you in that thread from 2009.  That's the only source about wine colored Queen palms. I haven't seen one myself so I was surprised about how many people actually grow some. I'm pretty sure it's rare to see a palm like that. 

Well most Queens perished in Texas there are only a few areas in Texas where Queens were almost untouched . The possibility to see a wine colored Queen is probably a lot higher in Florida and California. 

[Fusca]

4 hours ago, MarcusH said:

I've tagged you in that thread from 2009.  That's the only source about wine colored Queen palms. I haven't seen one myself so I was surprised about how many people actually grow some. I'm pretty sure it's rare to see a palm like that. 

Well most Queens perished in Texas there are only a few areas in Texas where Queens were almost untouched . The possibility to see a wine colored Queen is probably a lot higher in Florida and California. 

Thanks for bumping that thread.  No doubt that there are queens out there with some burgundy/purple color on them - I have seen some.  The one in the photo I posted is different - almost no green on the leaf bases.  It's possible that the trunking queens with a little purple color posted in the other threads looked like the one I posted when they were that size but that's just an assumption.

[Xenon]

10 hours ago, Fusca said:

@Xenon, have you seen such a purple queen?  

 

Nice find! Don't recall seeing any myself, guess I start looking at the HGC queens more closely haha

[thyerr01]

I feel the unanswered question is whether or not you bought the giant purple queen palm...

[Fusca]

30 minutes ago, thyerr01 said:

I feel the unanswered question is whether or not you bought the giant purple queen palm...

If I hadn't just planted 2 large ones in the past 6 months I would have snagged it but alas it is/was still available.