abreojos pics

[MattyB]

here some updated pics from today

[LJG]

Nice Queen Palms.

[Stevetoad]

Looking good Matt. Might be time for some garden updates........hint hint.....

[Mike M]

Real nice Matt.

[pogobob]

Matt, that row of abreojos will be a real eye opener in a few years! they are really growing fast

[pogobob]

Nice Queen Palms.

Open your eyes Len!

[MattyB]

I dug/plucked these babies from beneath the abreojos mama myself. They are in some nasty heavy clay fill dirt. They have been watered only twice since december and in summer get watered once every 15 days since that's the longest my timer goes.

[Pedro 65]

Pity they don't have "broad leaflets", then they would look different Is the upright leaf the "only difference" to a queen?

[MattyB]

They definitely have wider leaftets than queen palms at the same age, in my climate. I just chopped a queen down in my canyon and the leaflets were 1/2 the width and not as plentiful.

[Pedro 65]

They definitely have wider leaftets than queen palms at the same age, in my climate. I just chopped a queen down in my canyon and the leaflets were 1/2 the width and not as plentiful.

So "where" did the name abreojos come from ?

[WestCoastGal]

Matt, all you hard work is really paying off. Looks great and the abreojos are already making quite a beautiful statement there. BTW what type of palm is across from the last abreojos to the left and across the driveway or path? Nice canopy on it. Can't quite tell from the photo but is something covering the trunk?

[WestCoastGal]

They really do remind me a lot of a foxy lady. What kind of cold tolerance do yours have?

[MattyB]

I think you're looking at Roystonea regia with it's fatty trunk.

Pedro, go read the legend of abreojos thread. Someone just bumped it so it's near the top.

[MattyB]

I only get into the 30's but I'm sure they take much much lower. They are a queen palm afterall.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Nice! It will be interesting to see how they develop over the next few years. Your hillside reminds me of the type of terrain I am dealing with.

[Pedro 65]

Ok, read the Legend thread and grabbed this pic..is this Pogo Bobs ?..yes this certainly has "thicker' leaflets, none of the offspring have though...not yet anyway..all very thin compered to this one..and yes , my eyes are open can easily pick up stand out differences hope yours turn out to be this Matty.

[MattyB]

Yes that's Bob's. I hope mine looks like that too

[richnorm]

Emperor's new clothes.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Growing nicely Matty . Mine is doing well down here too although considerably slower .

[Alberto]

The original seed of abreojos was collected from a palm in an isolated place with no other queen nearby, so all the seeds that this palm was able to produce only could happen when there were at least two inflorescences in 2 different stages (with self pollination). Now, I think, auto pollination, in Bobs garden, where there are hundreds of queen palms in the vicinities is more difficult to happen. It makes it possible for every inflorescence to form seeds, but not "pure" abreojos.....

[quaman58]

Good observation Alberto; I hadn't thought of that.

[neoflora]

Queen palm - reinvented!

[MattyB]

Good theory alberto. You may be right.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

The original seed of abreojos was collected from a palm in an isolated place with no other queen nearby, so all the seeds that this palm was able to produce only could happen when there were at least two inflorescences in 2 different stages (with self pollination). Now, I think, auto pollination, in Bobs garden, where there are hundreds of queen palms in the vicinities is more difficult to happen. It makes it possible for every inflorescence to form seeds, but not "pure" abreojos.....

That's what I said on the other thread. I think the offsprings have been watered down with regular queen palm genes. I am going to treat mine as a regular queen, if it grows into its mother, great. But I am not going to raise my expectations too much.

[Phoenikakias]

Emperor's new clothes.

I agree with Richard. What I see here, however stupid may sound, looks to me like normal but very healthy and robust Arecastrum. This means, that if I had never read other topics about the 'abreojos' I would have thought as above. If within a sp. there are so many forms I don't see the reason why we can isolate one. Besides I am not entirely sure whether variety in form is not also a result of special growing conditions.

[gyuseppe]

Emperor's new clothes.

I agree with Richard. What I see here, however stupid may sound, looks to me like normal but very healthy and robust Arecastrum. This means, that if I had never read other topics about the 'abreojos' I would have thought as above. If within a sp. there are so many forms I don't see the reason why we can isolate one. Besides I am not entirely sure whether variety in form is not also a result of special growing conditions.

Konstantinos what you said is all true,I have one ,still small, but leaves already are divided,is a robust romanzoffiana with leaves and leaflets wider,

but there is something good,the leaf have a nice color,very many of green

[Phoenikakias]

Is there any picture from the mother 'abreojos' in Mexico, to compare it with the specimen of Pogobob? I have a seen another spectacular specimen in France in the village Menton. I will post a picture a.s.a.p. I don't know if it is 'abreojos' or other close form, but it has attracted my attention because of its massive dimensions. If I had a specimen in my garden looking like that or 'abreojos' I would not waste an additional place for the other form.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Phoenikakias

[Dypsisdean]

FYI

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Syagrus_sp._%27Ho%27omaluhia%27

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Just to make things interesting, let me introduce syagrus "Santa Cruz" that I just discovered today, they are massive queens, super dark green fronds with super wide leaflets, much darker green and denser than any other queen around town that I could see. and this one was obviously busy seeding.

And here are a couple of babies growing on the other side of the lawn of the big one.

As far as I can tell, this form is not super rare, but not all that usual either. There is some sort of strain of queen palms around that just seem more robust and darker green than most of the other queens. Just as a comparison, here are the queen palms right down the street from my house. Wait, see next post since I am only allowed three images per post.

[DavidMac]

Thanks -'Ho'omaluhia' and 'Abreojos' look practically identical and reflect very similar genetics in my opinion due to the markedly wider leaflets than common Queens- fertilizer and good watering can not account for this.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Regular queens for comparison:

[pogobob]

Unfortunatly I don't have a photo of the palm I collected the seeds from 34 years ago. As I remember, it was a compact, stunted, but very heavy leafed palm that was interesting enouph to me to get my attention and collect seed. The one at my old house in San Clemente that I grew from those seed looks nothing like the original except for the very heavy leaflets. The trunk is about average for a queen, but the leaves are really the difference, completly plumose, dark glossy green, and huge. Call it what you want, but patience and time is proveing the ugly duckling is going to be worth the wait

[pogobob]

Axel, I wonder!

[neoflora]

Pogo, Is the palm still in Punta Aberojos?

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Axel, I wonder!

Bob, I love your abreojos! I've spent years looking for a source for the dark dense super plumose wide leaflet queen. Now we have a source from your palm. What's even better is that there's a story behind your queen palm. That alone makes it fun and interesting. I happen to also collect apple varieties, and each variety has a story associated with it about the person who was the first to grow it and where it came from. This is how legends originate. The legend of Abreojos is awesome, hopefully the surf on that trip was epic for you too. PACSOA has already immortalized your palm as its own "species" anyway, so why not call all the dark forms like that "abreojos"!

[pogobob]

Pogo, Is the palm still in Punta Aberojos?

Ron, no it's gone, they widened the dirt road and moved the ice factory years ago.

[MattyB]

Queens are super variable. There is another form that I sometimes see and I love it. It's always thick trunked, and has very large fronds, and the most distinctive trait are the many healthy fronds held well below horizontal curving downwards. The Florida guys might call it silver queen, but I'm not positive these are one in the same. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[neoflora]

A have a few of the silver queens I am growing!

[Pedro 65]

Queens are super variable. There is another form that I sometimes see and I love it. It's always thick trunked, and has very large fronds, and the most distinctive trait are the many healthy fronds held well below horizontal curving downwards. The Florida guys might call it silver queen, but I'm not positive these are one in the same. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Super Variable is the 'Key word" here for Queens and as the pics show the best lookers have thick leaflets...Best looking Foxtails have very thick leaflets too, the "majority" that have thin leaflets that look more like "Rats Tails" Pete

[Axel Amsterdam]

Climate must play a part as well. This is a queen growing in Arcata. Short upright compact growth. (picture by Matt Eureka)