Pictures of the best looking cycad hybrids combinations in your garden or ones you have seen?

[hinovak]

I have really been interested in seeing some of the cooler crosses some of you guys have made over the years, please share your favorites. And does anyone have a cycas diannanensis x deb or multifronds type cross? Curious what it would look like, but like all types of cycad species, so post them all. Most of my crosses are still small, but here is a large rev x deb. I have.

[wimmie]

Two years ago I got this Cycad from a botanic garden here in Holland. They wanted to get rid of it just because it is a hybrid! When they asked me if I was interested, my answer was a loud and clear YES! Cycads this (relatively) big are hard to get overhere, so I couldn't care less that it is a hybrid. I was told that it is a hybrid from Encephalartos villosus and natalensis from the old botanic garden in Leiden. Before I got it, it already made a tour along several botanic gardens in Holland where the scientists didn't want it. A sign that came with the plant read: HYBRID - DISCARD. I am very happy with this Cycad!

[tinman10101]

6 hours ago, wimmie said:

Two years ago I got this Cycad from a botanic garden here in Holland. They wanted to get rid of it just because it is a hybrid! When they asked me if I was interested, my answer was a loud and clear YES! Cycads this (relatively) big are hard to get overhere, so I couldn't care less that it is a hybrid. I was told that it is a hybrid from Encephalartos villosus and natalensis from the old botanic garden in Leiden. Before I got it, it already made a tour along several botanic gardens in Holland where the scientists didn't want it. A sign that came with the plant read: HYBRID - DISCARD. I am very happy with this Cycad!

i love that discard sign. lol ... i know in the cycad world there are elitist but it makes sense in a botanical garden to remove hybrids.  discarding doesnt seem to be a protocol i would think a botanical garden would embrace because at the end of the day, all plants are unique because of their un-uniqueness.  

in any case, i am glad you were able to save it ... 

[Merlyn]

@wimmie great find!!!  I can understand why they wouldn't want it at a botanical garden or conservatory.  Some of my favorite cycads are hybrids, like the now-semi-common Rev x Deb.  I have about 20 hybrids out of my ~300 cycads, I'll try to get some photos to post!  As a starter, here is a new flush on an Encephalartos Gratus x Laurentianus:

[hinovak]

Those are both super awesome! Thanks for sharing guys! Keep them coming. I don’t understand the hate for hybrids, I feel like they open up a whole new world of possibilities. I find myself wanting to make all sorts of combinations. They are just now getting into the golden age of hybrid agaves, and some of those have been amazing looking, way better than either parent, I feel like the same may be true with cycads

[TropicsEnjoyer]

On 12/11/2024 at 12:53 AM, hinovak said:

Those are both super awesome! Thanks for sharing guys! Keep them coming. I don’t understand the hate for hybrids, I feel like they open up a whole new world of possibilities. I find myself wanting to make all sorts of combinations. They are just now getting into the golden age of hybrid agaves, and some of those have been amazing looking, way better than either parent, I feel like the same may be true with cycads

I agree that hybridization opens up a wonderful new world of possibilities for many types of plants. While I agree the “discard” is pretty harsh, in my understanding it’s a measure of ensuring that hybrids don’t get too complex/impure. Take for example phoenix palms - they’re dioecious like cycads and they’re so popular these days that now it’s probably rarer to have a pure species than a hybrid, even if its a subtle hybrid. Basically, they want to preserve purity for as long as possible, because hybrids will prevail one way or another.

At the end of the day though, you got a free rare cycad 😅.

[hinovak]

Any ideas if this is a rev x deb? Or something else? I got this small in the beginning when I knew no names and just started getting into cycads, so I don’t know for sure what it is. Has longer leaves that kind of twist up which is different from my other rev x debs. Probably next to impossible to identify hybrids because of what different traits they take on from parents. Cool plant though

[amh]

1 hour ago, hinovak said:

Any ideas if this is a rev x deb? Or something else? I got this small in the beginning when I knew no names and just started getting into cycads, so I don’t know for sure what it is. Has longer leaves that kind of twist up which is different from my other rev x debs. Probably next to impossible to identify hybrids because of what different traits they take on from parents. Cool plant though

Did you buy this plant from North Texas Cold Hardy Palms? I purchased a Rev X Deb that looks very similar.

[amh]

I have quite a few hybrids now, most are Cycas panzhihuaensis crosses, but I have a few questionable zamias as well as a hybrid encephalartos and a few Dioon edule X angustifolium hybrids. Everything is packed into the greenhouse right now, so I will try to get some pictures this week.  I have two small Cycas panzhihuaensis X szechuanensis that are really neat.

[Merlyn]

@hinovak that sure looks like a Rev x Deb, or Rev x Multifrondis, or Panz x Deb, or something similar.  TCHP sold both.  I would suspect it is not a pure Micholitzii or Bifida because they would probably burn to a crisp in Ft Worth in the first winter.  But those are the only other two that look "similar" to yours with the split leaflets.

[Billeb]

On 12/10/2024 at 9:53 PM, hinovak said:

….   I don’t understand the hate for hybrids, I feel like they open up a whole new world of possibilities. I find myself wanting to make all sorts of combinations. 

A lot of the purists really hate hybrids. To get down to brass tacks….Hybrid crosses are polluting the gene pool. The more hybrids are out there, the less potential there is to create pure plants. Thus, further diminishing the species. 
 

I do love Hybrids due to the vigor of growth and super cool shapes & colors but there’s nothing like pure plants. It’s our responsibility to keep creating pure plants for the future. 
 

-dale 

[Billeb]

23 hours ago, hinovak said:

Any ideas if this is a rev x deb? Or something else? 

Looks like Panz x Debo to me but could be Multifrondis x Debo like @Merlyn said. Here’s my Panz x Debo followed by a pure Debo. 

-dale 

[hinovak]

5 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@hinovak that sure looks like a Rev x Deb, or Rev x Multifrondis, or Panz x Deb, or something similar.  TCHP sold both.  I would suspect it is not a pure Micholitzii or Bifida because they would probably burn to a crisp in Ft Worth in the first winter.  But those are the only other two that look "similar" to yours with the split leaflets.

Yeah, I did get them at TCHP, i figured that was the cross, crazy the genetic variation, I have 3 of them, and they all are slightly different. It’s kind of crazy growing them in Fort Worth, I treat them all like die back perennials. I have close to 15 different species, and I just burry them deep and loose foliage every winter, and they do their thing in the spring. My cycas guizhouensis flushed 4 times this season. Planted it as a tiny thing in native clay before I knew any better about how sensitive some are to bad drainage in winter. It’s huge now. That one and the hybrids are about the only ones that seem to care nothing about being in straight native clay. The rest I had to replant to get them happy. 

[hinovak]

22 hours ago, amh said:

I have quite a few hybrids now, most are Cycas panzhihuaensis crosses, but I have a few questionable zamias as well as a hybrid encephalartos and a few Dioon edule X angustifolium hybrids. Everything is packed into the greenhouse right now, so I will try to get some pictures this week.  I have two small Cycas panzhihuaensis X szechuanensis that are really neat.

I would like to see those panzhihuaensis x szechuanensis, I bought some small rev x cycas diannanensis on here (sorry if it’s someone on this topic, forgot who I bought them off of) but they are looking pretty stellar, growth rate is phenomenal.

[amh]

3 minutes ago, hinovak said:

I would like to see those panzhihuaensis x szechuanensis, I bought some small rev x cycas diannanensis on here (sorry if it’s someone on this topic, forgot who I bought them off of) but they are looking pretty stellar, growth rate is phenomenal.

The rev x diannanensis probably came from @Scott W, he has great plants.

So far the panzhihuaensis x szechuanensis look just like equal, upright mixture of each parent, but colored more like a panzhihuaensis, I'm really looking forward to when they mature.

[hinovak]

2 minutes ago, amh said:

The rev x diannanensis probably came from @Scott W, he has great plants.

So far the panzhihuaensis x szechuanensis look just like equal, upright mixture of each parent, but colored more like a panzhihuaensis, I'm really looking forward to when they mature.

You are exactly right, that is who I bought them from. Some of these guys have just amazing stuff. My thing is trying to find unique plants that work in my bipolar climate. I have found a couple of gems. Even a few bromeliads that only need minor protection two days out of the year. But have lost quite a bit of things as well. I got lucky with a few sources of more cold hardy cycad info, and have not lost much. What area do you grow?

[amh]

1 minute ago, hinovak said:

You are exactly right, that is who I bought them from. Some of these guys have just amazing stuff. My thing is trying to find unique plants that work in my bipolar climate. I have found a couple of gems. Even a few bromeliads that only need minor protection two days out of the year. But have lost quite a bit of things as well. I got lucky with a few sources of more cold hardy cycad info, and have not lost much. What area do you grow?

I have been happy with all of my purchases from the forum. I'm just north of San Antonio in Comal county, but due to my elevation and other factors I'm in Zone 8A, except for the past 4 winters. Because of the extreme heat, drought and cold of the past few years, most of my plants are still in containers, except my run of the mill sagos and some sabal species. The cold hardiness master data has been very valuable. Did your cycas guizhouensis experience February '21 in the ground?

[hinovak]

23 minutes ago, amh said:

I have been happy with all of my purchases from the forum. I'm just north of San Antonio in Comal county, but due to my elevation and other factors I'm in Zone 8A, except for the past 4 winters. Because of the extreme heat, drought and cold of the past few years, most of my plants are still in containers, except my run of the mill sagos and some sabal species. The cold hardiness master data has been very valuable. Did your cycas guizhouensis experience February '21 in the ground?

Nice, so not too far south of me. The cycas guizhouensis was in the ground. Now I occasionally cheat, that when I know it’s going to get like 12 degrees or colder, I cut off all the leaves of my cycads, and get a regular plastic nursery pot, stuff a towel or freeze clothe on the sides and put it on top of the cycad with like a rock or brick to hold it down. So far it’s been perfect success wise, even with a few large ones. But growth wise and happiness, the guizhouensis has performed the best out of all my cycads. It’s in straight native clay and had about a 1.5” caudex when I cut it off a mature plant I bought for a landscape project about 5 years ago. This is it now. And it’s larger than it looks in picture, the top leaves are about 5.5-6ft tall.

[amh]

10 minutes ago, hinovak said:

Nice, so not too far south of me. The cycas guizhouensis was in the ground. Now I occasionally cheat, that when I know it’s going to get like 12 degrees or colder, I cut off all the leaves of my cycads, and get a regular plastic nursery pot, stuff a towel or freeze clothe on the sides and put it on top of the cycad with like a rock or brick to hold it down. So far it’s been perfect success wise, even with a few large ones. But growth wise and happiness, the guizhouensis has performed the best out of all my cycads. It’s in straight native clay and had about a 1.5” caudex when I cut it off a mature plant I bought for a landscape project about 5 years ago. This is it now. And it’s larger than it looks in picture, the top leaves are about 5.5-6ft tall.

That is a great looking cycad! my cycas guizhouensis are still small, but now I'm not too worried about planting them.