Rhopalostylis cheesemanii

[Joe palma]

I was very suprised to see the first flower/seed bract and this incredible purple color on the crown shaft! I'm stoked! This was purchased about 8-9yrs ago as a 3g, or 5g, from Jungle Music and was in a 20g before being planted out about ~4yrs ago. It is my favorite palm in ground. My D. onilahensis is a close second.

[Joe palma]

Here is another w/ more of the palm....

[Rafael]

WWWWWOOOOOOWWWWWWW

That´s amazing!

I got one too, some days ago, 5 gal!

[Jastin]

Looks great Joe! I'll have to stop by soon to check it out, I cant wait to see mine like that! My Oceana that I got from you 3 months ago is already on its 3rd leaf! Beautiful garden.

[Benjamin D.]

Wow! That is really pretty!

[Miccles]

That's gorgeous. Stunning colour !! You should be VERY proud - well done.

Regards

Michael

[Joe palma]

Thanks Rafael, Jastin, Benjamin and Micheal!

Yep, I am a proud papa!

Your welcome by anytime Jastin.

[Tyrone]

OOOOooooooo Yeaaaaahhhhhhh.

[Got Palms]

Very nice Joe! the four i got from u are all doing very well Thanks Again. Sergio

[Shon]

Nice Joe! That is in my top 5 of palms at your place. Now if you could just get that Syagrus going.

[Palmzilla]

Very nice Joe! Thats a great purple one! Awesome!

[Firepalm]

Nice one Joe! That purple color incredible.

[palmcurry]

WHat a beauty. One for the Rhpie heads!

[DoomsDave]

That is neat!

My larger R. baueri did the same thing, even bloomed twice but no seeds

Yet.

But, yes

Soon the Rhopies will be coming . . . .

[chakoro]

Very nice joe...has a cool lean to it as well...Craig.

[LJG]

Thats pretty fast growth Joe. Looks great.

[BS Man about Palms]

Joe!

[Pedro 65]

That is neat!

My larger R. baueri did the same thing, even bloomed twice but no seeds

Yet.

But, yes

Soon the Rhopies will be coming . . . .

Beautifully Grown Rhopie there Joe, there a Great looking Palm,love em. Ours doing same as Daves, flowered a few times but No Seed Yet. It will, and I have plenty of time to wait.Not sure what Rhopie ours is but we Love it. Pete

[nachocarl]

Nice! If only one palm here, that would be it. Luckly we can grow a few more. Nicely done Joe!

[Joe palma]

Thanks everyone for the kudos!

I've been lucky I haven't had something afflict it (hope I don't curse myself ).

My next post will shed some light on what I am refering to.

I was looking through my records to pin point when I did get it.

Need to keep looking. Can't be more than 10yrs ago.

[Jastin]

I wonder what the size difference would be if you didnt wait till it was a 20g before planting Joe? Either way it looks great and I cant wait to see what mine looks like later on.

[Joe palma]

That's a good question Jastin.

I can tell you that I have had numerous cases, for whatever reason, where I plant out the largest palm I have of a species, from a group I am growing, and then watch the ones in the containers out grow what was the biggest one, now in the ground. I know this is counter intuitive to common thought, but it is a fact for me.

I rarely plant anything under 15g size, cause I want them to be as mature as I can get them before dropping them in. It's a pain. Digging large holes in my yard is a killer. Tons of rocks, but that is how slope growing out here goes.

If you dig the biggest, reasonable hole you can and fill w/ good soil, your going the right direction.

[Bags]

Nice palm Joe. I love my Cheesmanii. I planted it in full sun as a two gallon in 08 and it has grown like a weed. It is now overhead and probably only a year or two from trunking. It is much faster and more sun tolerant than other Rhopalostylis I have grown.

[DoomsDave]

I don't know about faster than a speeding bullet . . . .

(or even a speeding mullet . . .. )

But they are far and away faster than any other rhopie, about three times as fast.

I think a regular baueri takes about 3 times as long to reach that size.

[realarch]

That's really beautiful, and the close up of the crown shaft is too cool.

[pogobob]

Well i'll be a blue nosed gopher if that ain't another purple sapida...Dangit!

[Joe palma]

I don't know about faster than a speeding bullet . . . .

(or even a speeding mullet . . .. )

But they are far and away faster than any other rhopie, about three times as fast.

I think a regular baueri takes about 3 times as long to reach that size.

I have grown all 4 species/varaints in quantity and I have to say that R. oceana is pretty darn quick as well (at least the ones from POGOs tree). Sapida, for sure, is the slowest. Seeing how oceana is a variant of sapida one might not think it would be quick.

[Gary]

I don't know about faster than a speeding bullet . . . .

(or even a speeding mullet . . .. )

But they are far and away faster than any other rhopie, about three times as fast.

I think a regular baueri takes about 3 times as long to reach that size.

whats the difference between regular baueri and this one??according to the experts there is none and near there is only 1 form

[Joe palma]

Well i'll be a blue nosed gopher if that ain't another purple sapida...Dangit!

I remember when you were hear last Bob that you thought my cheesemanii might be the same as the palm you picked the purple sapida seeds from (one reason why I snagged some of them seeds from ya).

Can you post any pics of that palm??

[Joe palma]

I don't know about faster than a speeding bullet . . . .

(or even a speeding mullet . . .. )

But they are far and away faster than any other rhopie, about three times as fast.

I think a regular baueri takes about 3 times as long to reach that size.

whats the difference between regular baueri and this one??according to the experts there is none and near there is only 1 form

Not sure what experts you are refering to but Hodel wrote an article in PALMs not to long ago stating cheesemanii as a variant of baueri. If he thought they weren't, he wouldn't have stated such (course I don't totally remember the article and maybe there was some doubt there). The baueri's I am growing have red on the petiole and rachis. My cheeser has not a hint of red. Baueri, in my experience, do not have anywhere near as wide a leaflet as the cheesemanii. There is some variability in them, as I saw a baueri the other day that looked to have a hint of sapida in the leaflets.

To your arguement Gary, I have heard others question the differences.

[Gary]

Joe-I am trying to find out more on the differences between the 2 baueri forms.It is not hard for chesemanii as many grow here in nz but finding a true form norfolk here seems impossible.I have approached John Dowe,Bill Sykes,Peter De Lange who all are experts on these and all agree the 2 forms are 1.What I really want to know is wether the colour purple is present on norfolk form as well but it seems when they studied the species on both islands no notes were recorded on this and they think they never sighted the colour purple.There are a handful of palms here in nz which have set seed for the last 3yrs only and the crownshaft and leaf sheath is never any colour bur green and wonder if this is actually a trait of norfolk baueri.The palm in appearance and flower fit within baueri form but the seedling are a little different to cheesemanii.

[richnorm]

Well i'll be a blue nosed gopher if that ain't another purple sapida...Dangit!

I thought we'd laid that mischief to rest....!

[Jastin]

That's a good question Jastin.

I can tell you that I have had numerous cases, for whatever reason, where I plant out the largest palm I have of a species, from a group I am growing, and then watch the ones in the containers out grow what was the biggest one, now in the ground. I know this is counter intuitive to common thought, but it is a fact for me.

I rarely plant anything under 15g size, cause I want them to be as mature as I can get them before dropping them in. It's a pain. Digging large holes in my yard is a killer. Tons of rocks, but that is how slope growing out here goes.

If you dig the biggest, reasonable hole you can and fill w/ good soil, your going the right direction.

Have you tried this for every palm that you planted? Do you think palms like to be confined to the pot? It would seem that since you have rock soil it would also "confine" the palm. Do you take care of pots better? Maybe its the heat that the blacks pots are getting to keep the soil warm or the area that you keep them compared to where you planted the others...

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Stunning palm Joe and it looks just like the Purple sapida in San Clemente ! Pogos seed stock exchange just took a nosedive !

[richnorm]

Stunning palm Joe and it looks just like the Purple sapida in San Clemente !

That's because they are both baueri var. cheesemanii

[Joe palma]

Joe-I am trying to find out more on the differences between the 2 baueri forms.It is not hard for chesemanii as many grow here in nz but finding a true form norfolk here seems impossible.I have approached John Dowe,Bill Sykes,Peter De Lange who all are experts on these and all agree the 2 forms are 1.What I really want to know is wether the colour purple is present on norfolk form as well but it seems when they studied the species on both islands no notes were recorded on this and they think they never sighted the colour purple.There are a handful of palms here in nz which have set seed for the last 3yrs only and the crownshaft and leaf sheath is never any colour bur green and wonder if this is actually a trait of norfolk baueri.The palm in appearance and flower fit within baueri form but the seedling are a little different to cheesemanii.

Gary - I see. I wish I knew the origin of the seeds for this palm. All I can say is it was purchased from Jungle Music probably 9 yrs ago. Up until this point I had not seen any obvious purple on a Rhopalostylis. I can say there seems to be some differences in the 2 forms of baueri I am growing, in that the so-called regular baueri has some red on the petiole and rachis and the so-called cheesemanii doesn't have this at all. Also, to me, the cheesemanii has a bit more recurved nature to the frond, but this could just be plant specific. I do not have a large number of either at this size to truly compare. As well, I have never seen another baueri that has leaflets as wide as the one pictured above, again I can't say I have seen a good number of them to have seen enough.

Anyway, I was trying to find the PALMS printing w/ Hodels article to reference, but need to look more. Seems you have spoken w/ some of the heavy hitters on the subject. Well, some day it will be resolved. I am glad just to have one of these!

[Joe palma]

That's a good question Jastin.

I can tell you that I have had numerous cases, for whatever reason, where I plant out the largest palm I have of a species, from a group I am growing, and then watch the ones in the containers out grow what was the biggest one, now in the ground. I know this is counter intuitive to common thought, but it is a fact for me.

I rarely plant anything under 15g size, cause I want them to be as mature as I can get them before dropping them in. It's a pain. Digging large holes in my yard is a killer. Tons of rocks, but that is how slope growing out here goes.

If you dig the biggest, reasonable hole you can and fill w/ good soil, your going the right direction.

Have you tried this for every palm that you planted? Do you think palms like to be confined to the pot? It would seem that since you have rock soil it would also "confine" the palm. Do you take care of pots better? Maybe its the heat that the blacks pots are getting to keep the soil warm or the area that you keep them compared to where you planted the others...

Jastin - I have not figured out what specifically is the issue but soil/drainage and watering are at the top. Container palms have the water/fertilizer better constrained and they will heat the roots when the sun hits them leading to better root growth. Drainage is also much better w/ containers. Some of them in the ground might not have been getting enough water. Then there is the ph change when planted out in the clay soil. I also did have several batches of hydrophobic soil mix and it could be this as well. I do have photo proof of the ones in the ground languishing and containers ones skyrocketing.

[Joe palma]

Stunning palm Joe and it looks just like the Purple sapida in San Clemente ! Pogos seed stock exchange just took a nosedive !

Thanks Troy!

I know you took a lot of pictures when you were out here.

Did you happen to snap a few of Bob's purple Rhopalostylis?He seemed to think it looked a lot like mine, but how one could call it a sapida is confusing.

[Gary]

Joe-I am trying to find out more on the differences between the 2 baueri forms.It is not hard for chesemanii as many grow here in nz but finding a true form norfolk here seems impossible.I have approached John Dowe,Bill Sykes,Peter De Lange who all are experts on these and all agree the 2 forms are 1.What I really want to know is wether the colour purple is present on norfolk form as well but it seems when they studied the species on both islands no notes were recorded on this and they think they never sighted the colour purple.There are a handful of palms here in nz which have set seed for the last 3yrs only and the crownshaft and leaf sheath is never any colour bur green and wonder if this is actually a trait of norfolk baueri.The palm in appearance and flower fit within baueri form but the seedling are a little different to cheesemanii.

Gary - I see. I wish I knew the origin of the seeds for this palm. All I can say is it was purchased from Jungle Music probably 9 yrs ago. Up until this point I had not seen any obvious purple on a Rhopalostylis. I can say there seems to be some differences in the 2 forms of baueri I am growing, in that the so-called regular baueri has some red on the petiole and rachis and the so-called cheesemanii doesn't have this at all. Also, to me, the cheesemanii has a bit more recurved nature to the frond, but this could just be plant specific. I do not have a large number of either at this size to truly compare. As well, I have never seen another baueri that has leaflets as wide as the one pictured above, again I can't say I have seen a good number of them to have seen enough.

Anyway, I was trying to find the PALMS printing w/ Hodels article to reference, but need to look more. Seems you have spoken w/ some of the heavy hitters on the subject. Well, some day it will be resolved. I am glad just to have one of these!

I have exchanged emails with Don Hodel on the purple thing but he along with John Dowe have not sighted it but not clear wether they visited both norfolk and raoul island.Sykes and De Lange did visit both islands but did not note purple on either.

While I know the purple exists on cheesemanii I am yet to find someone who can confirm that it does on norfolk island or a geniune palm of that form

[nkbish]

Looks great for the amount of sun it gets. cant wait to check that nice palm out next time I am their. Joe's palms in the ground and pots always look great.