Closest coconut mimic

[Tyrone]

Hi folks, I actually voted for Beccario mad although I see alfred is in the poll lead.

I happen to have similar size Cocos nucifera (in pot) and Beccariophoenix alfredii (in ground) so I thought I'd take some pics and let the viewer consider these two palms at least at these ages/sizes.

aerial view

Cocos

Beccario

And one with Mad Max (Beerwaheart) for perspective of size

Your new plantings begin there. Keep as apprised as everything gets planted out and grows. Your alfredii looks exactly like my first germinations back in 07, being at the same stage of growth. I would say yours is 3 years old by the looks of it.

Best regards

Tyrone

[CoconutFreak]

Queens (Syagrus romanzoffiana) are awful palms in my opinion. They look nothing like a Coconut. Syagrus amara is a way better choice.

[Tyrone]

Queens (Syagrus romanzoffiana) are awful palms in my opinion. They look nothing like a Coconut. Syagrus amara is a way better choice.

I've just realised your a new member from Oz. Welcome Ben. Where in Oz are you from? It's great to have another Ozzie on board.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Zeeth]

B alfredii has only been known about for approx 6 years I think. Is that palm more than 6 years old at Kopsick? Alfred in Tana had access to this palm first before it was described in 2007. My thoughts are that the one in Kopsick is B madagascariensis, but I could be wrong. Unless the seed came from Alfred it most likely is B mad.

Best regards

Tyrone

It looks to me to be about 4 or 5 years old, and Kopsick has some really really rare stuff, so I don't think it's out of the question that they could have gotten seed while it was still brand new. I'll talk to some of the guys who do the work at to the park to get a 100% confirmation though, so everyone is satisfied. It's growth rate is faster than the B. madagascariensis at the other end of the park though. It seems to have as many new leaves as B. sp. windows every time I go, while the B. madagascariensis will not.

I got my seed in early 07 which was when RPS first had access to them and mine are nowhere near that big after 3 years. The first winter they sat in a hothouse on a heat mat and grew vigorously and the second year I put them into full baking sun, so I don't think they have climate issues considering the winters they get in habitat are not unlike mine except drier. They've been a steady little grower, growing all year round at the same rate, undoubtedly faster than B madagascariensis, but not THAT fast.

Just my observations. However I doubt that Kopsick one is alfredii unless they got the seed from Alfred himself way back in the beginning, which is not impossible.

Best regards

Tyrone

What would you say describes your climate? Humid Subtropical, Mediterranean, etc? Jeff Marcus says alfredii is fastest of the 3, but he's in Hawaii, and I think the speed of alfredii varies from climate to climate.

This should solve the arguing. I emailed Phil Stager with a picture and request for ID, this is the email i received back;

"zeeth-

This was purchased last fall from D'Assign Source as plain old B.madigascarinensis. If we define B. Alfredii by the lack on window panes in the fronds, then this is B. alfredii since it never had any window panes. Both this one and a much larger one in my yard did quite well this winter. (This one had window panes as a juvenile). I think the extended cold was as bad as one or two nights around freezing.

It does not appear quite as cold hardy as a Bismarkia but looks a lot better than any coconuts around here.

Phil"

I emailed D'Assign source to get more info and better confirmation, I will let you know when I get a reply.

I told him that alfredii definitely has windows when younger, so if it never had windows, it would be a B. madagascariensis. He did say "this one had window panes as a juvenile" though, so I'm not sure if he's referring to the one at Kopsick or the one at his house, or if he means "window panes" in the sense of the windows version (lots of them and very pronounced), or like alfredii has window panes (not as many and they don't last as long). Either way, I'd say it's probably just B. madagascariensis. I really wish this one had an ID tag, so all this confusion wouldn't have happened.

I also offered to him to donate one of my B. alfredii seedlings to the park after they grow a little. I think it'd look cool next to a coconut in the new section of the park that gets full sun.

Zeeth my climate is dry subtropical, but also falls into the category of Mediteranean, but is actually warmer and much wetter in winter than the actual Mediteranean. Although I'm dry subtropical, my plants don't see dry summers as I irrigate to push them along as fast as I can, so the irrigation often modifies the climate here to be significantly more humid than the surrounding area. We also get much hotter summers than highland Madagascar and the little alfredii's just keep growing happily without a care in the world. I love this palm and have big plans for this species in my landscape business once they get going a bit.

Best regards

Tyrone

Alright, cool. I've got somewhere around 60 seeds (about 20 have already germinated) and 4 plants. I actually had spear pull on 2 plants this horrible winter, but I've heard that they may recover from that pretty well. If I get them through the spear pull, I'll be set, as I don't think they'll ever see temps as bad as this.

[Zeeth]

Queens (Syagrus romanzoffiana) are awful palms in my opinion. They look nothing like a Coconut. Syagrus amara is a way better choice.

I completely agree. I'm actually going to be planting 3 or 4 Syagrus amara in our yard. Much better option than the queen, although it's the least hardy Syagrus. Hardier than the coconut though. The rings on the trunk look very much like the rings on a coconuts trunk (wide but irregular, rather than the completely circular rings of the queen palm) and it has a bulging trunk base, so when it's super tall, it will resemble a coconut (as long as you curve the trunk manually).

I think the biggest problem with many of these coconut substitutes is the straight trunks. I think with a good back and a few hours of work with a shovel though, you can dig the palm up when it's got about 1 ft of trunk, and bend it. I'd say if you bend it maybe 10-15 degrees, let it grow, and bend it some more, etc, after a few times you can create the gradual curve of the coconut. It would be hard work, but worth it in the end.

[CoconutFreak]

Replying to Tyrone, I am from the Sydney region.

[CoconutFreak]

Also replying to Zeeth, your right the Straight trunk is a big problem. Nice leaves though.

[Zeeth]

Also replying to Zeeth, your right the Straight trunk is a big problem. Nice leaves though.

Yes, but as I said, the straight trunks problem can be taken care of pretty easily. The leaves are pretty nice; they aren't quite as coconutty as some of the others on this list, but it's still a nice palm.

[CoconutFreak]

I know you can manually bend palm trunks. I have seen quite a few Queens bent on purpose. I have also seen bent Howeas.

[CoconutFreak]

I once saw a Voanioala seedling on Ebay America for US$99 dollars. Too bad I live in Australia and the Ebay seller does NOT do International sales, otherwise I would have bought it!

[CoconutFreak]

Parajubaeas are OK as well, but not as good as Beccariophoenix.

[CoconutFreak]

I found some good pictures of Voanioala on a site called PalmWeb. Here is the site address: http://www.palmweb.org/?q=cdm_dataportal/taxon/31ef9a2d-05bc-4233-945a-0c44eccab350/images

[CoconutFreak]

Here is a picture of Voanioala's mini-coconuts!

[CoconutFreak]

Also a picture of Beccariophoenix madagascariensis.

Edited March 9, 2010 by CoconutFreak

[Jonathan]

I once saw a Voanioala seedling on Ebay America for US$99 dollars. Too bad I live in Australia and the Ebay seller does NOT do International sales, otherwise I would have bought it!

Even if you had bought it, AQIS would destroy it on site as soon as it entered the country, or else charged you hundreds of dollars and made you wait 2 years while they fumigate it to death in their isolation ward!

Cheers,

Jonathan

[CoconutFreak]

Beccariophoenix's Mini-Coconuts

[CoconutFreak]

To Jonathan, that is true.

[CoconutFreak]

Apparently some Orania species look like Coconuts.

[CoconutFreak]

Beccariohoenix alfredii for the WIN!

[CoconutFreak]

Dave from So-Cal has a point, Jubaeopsis trunks do curve like a coconut.

[JasonD]

On Palmweb (which I don't think I've looked at before), I found photos of Ceroxylon ceriferum, which has very coconutty leaves, but not fruits or trunk:

http://tinyurl.com/yaw6m8k

Thanks for the referral to Palmweb!

[Lowey]

Sorry, I came in late but what about Polyandrococos caudescens

[Jason Baker Portugal]

As far as I know cocos grow straight unless they are crowded nor have overhead canapy. Lots of other palms like Syagrus roman. bend naturally when crowded. At least they do in my garden.Jason

[Moose]

Amazingly Cocos nucifera L. is a dead ringer for the Cocoanut Palm!

Ron.

[Tyrone]

Amazingly Cocos nucifera L. is a dead ringer for the Cocoanut Palm!

Ron.

Yes.

[Zeeth]

B. alfredii is in the lead. For reference, here's a quote from another thread with a nice pic of one.

B. alfredii is by far the best of the genus. This is probably the largest one outside of habitat..?

BTW, All the Cocos nucifera around this palm got FRIED by our recent record frosts. This palm, however, laughed at the cold!!

(Searle Brother's Nursery, SW Ranches, FL)

[Trópico]

Voted for B. alfredii and J. caffra. I've only seen J. caffra in the "flesh" and it looks like a clumping coconut, very cool looking. I suppose California people have far more experience in coconut look a likes.

[CoconutFreak]

On the poll, it looks like Beccariophoenix 'Windows' is catching up with Beccariophoenx alfredii.

[CoconutFreak]

That large Beccie Alfred pictured looks a lot like a coconut, and it is not even mature yet.

[CoconutFreak]

I think this is enough options. Feel free to chime in with any palms I forgot. It will be interesting to see where this goes! I have the option selected so you can select multiple palms if you can't decide on just 1.

All Orania Species

All Ravenea Species

All Hetereospathe Species

[Xenon]

Phoenix rupicola?

Edited September 18, 2010 by Xenon

[Xenon]

Is it just me or is my post constantly bumping?

[Zeeth]

Is it just me or is my post constantly bumping?

Polls also bump when people vote on them

[GottmitAlex]

Attalea speciosa.

[Stelios]

These are photos which I took during our holidays in Miami in December. Attalea Crassispatha from Fairchild gardens and Heterospathe Elata from Jungle Island Zoo. Both have this coconut look.

[Mohsen]

[Pal Meir]

Is this a coconut?

[RedRabbit]

One of my neighbors has a >30ft majesty that has somewhat of a coconut look to it. Obviously, the trunk is off but the fronds look similar from a distance. 

Majesties aren’t the top coconut lookalike, but when mature they’re not a bad option especially considering they’re so easy to get. I’m sure there are some other Ravenea that work even better as a coconut substitute if you can find them for sale anywhere.

Edited December 22, 2020 by RedRabbit

[ck_in_fla]

On 3/8/2010 at 6:44 PM, Tyrone said:

Your new plantings begin there. Keep as apprised as everything gets planted out and grows. Your alfredii looks exactly like my first germinations back in 07, being at the same stage of growth. I would say yours is 3 years old by the looks of it.

 

Best regards

 

Tyrone

The similarity to the Coconut actually begins to be more pronounced once the alfredii leaves start to split.  In the poll, I am certain everyone is making the assumption that mature trees are being compared.

[RedRabbit]

15 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

One of my neighbors has a >30ft majesty that has somewhat of a coconut look to it. Obviously, the trunk is off but the fronds look similar from a distance. 

Majesties aren’t the top coconut lookalike, but when mature they’re not a bad option especially considering they’re so easy to get. I’m sure there are some other Ravenea that work even better as a coconut substitute if you can find them for sale anywhere.

 

Not too shabby, right? It looks way better than the queen on the left.