Pritchardia Dwarf

[AndyR]

Cant remember where I got this from but was sold as a dwarf (I think) and that it would handle the subtropics better than many of the other Pritchardia's.

Anyone know more about this?

It's about 20 years in the ground from a half-decent size already (maybe 35lt bag) and I've hardly watered it or done much at all to it. So it's done VERY well and I wish I hadnt planted it where it is.

So there are 3 questions;

1. What species is it?
2. Are there any seeds available?
3. Do they transplant well?

Thanks in advance!

Andy

[Jim in Los Altos]

Looks like it might be P. minor. It's not terribly uncommon so I would think seeds or young plants would be available. I've transplanted a couple of Pritchardia without much drama or setback. Just get as large a rootball as possible and expect a growth slowdown while it acclimates to its new spot. Be careful if you are moving it from a shady position to a sunnier one. You may need shade cloth over it for a while.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

It can't be p. Minor because the undersides of. minor are silver. Given your location it's probably the standard dwarf pritchardia, i.e. Hildebrandii dwarf.

[Tropicgardener]

Andy I would think that it is Pritchardia hillibrandii. Plants sold as a dwarf form were available back then in SE Queensland......No idea on moving it though except for waiting till spring.

[AndyR]

Thanks for the replies

I did have hilldebrandii and the leaves of this one seem much wider. I recall the PH had fairly narrow leaves in comparison and I'm sure it's not PH. This one had wider leaves like Pacifica however pacifica just didnt grow well here...

Will check out P. minor which might be correct if it is more cold tolerant and this one is barely 2.5 mtrs in over 20 year of age....

[quaman58]

I'm thinking hilldebrandii as well, although for being that old it is pretty small. Usually their growth rate seems brisk. But that wonderful leaf contour & shape make me pretty certain.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

There are several dwarf forms of hildebrandii, This one looks like one of them. Minor requires very cool growing conditions, I could not imagine it growing well in Brisbane. Hildebrandii dwarf in the shade would be pretty slow. P. Minor after 25 years would be bigger than the palm shown above.

[AndyR]

Thanks Axel, so how do identify this dwarf hildebrandii so I can try and locate some seed? Any clues as to how to find these? Any Hawaiian specialists that might identify the differences....

Cheers...

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

There are three different forms of hildebrandii that I know of: the regular hildebrandii, the hildebrandii dwarf blue, and the hildebrandii blue moon. Despite the names, those latter two rarely turn blue. In all honesty, though, I am puzzled at the fact that yours would still be trunkless after 20 years. But there is obviously a lot of variation in the hildebrandii species and perhaps the shading would keep it smaller. Take a look at this link, http://www.premierpalms.com/pages/hawaiian_fan_dwarf_blue.htm this looks a lot like yours but without the white edges that yours has. Blue moon looks a lot closer to yours. Blue Moon is obviously dwarfing because the pictures below of Al in Kona's blue moon are from 2008 and I've seen Al's specimen 6 years later, it's still not trunking. I really like the look of this specific pritchardia. Note that 'blue moon' may actually not be a hildebrandii, it gets lumped into hildebrandii because of the dwarf blue hildebrandii.

Just for clarification: hildebrandii 'dwarf blue' = hildebrandii 'huelo blue', this is not the same species as 'blue moon'.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Here is a picture of one of the popular sources of the seed for 'dwarf blue' or 'huelo blue', doesn't quite look like yours. The mother plant depicted below is somewhere south of Poipu on the island of Kauai. The 'blue moon' mother plant is elsewhere. Ironically, no one on PalmTalks who grows palms from either one of these can report any white or glaucous coating on their palm.

The most famous picture comes from Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden in northeast Oahu, this picture (below) is what many nurseries use to sell 'dwarf blue'. It might be that the seed of 'blue moon' come from that one. But I can't confirm that. But the main differences in leaf form is that 'dwarf blue' leaves are much more elongated than the 'blue moon' ones, the latter being more rounded as you noted, and IMHO much more beautiful.

[AndyR]

I reckon those first 2 pics is it Axel. It does have a trunk but not that large... and it does get sun i just took the pic early in the morning. So what type is that, really reckon that it!

Wanting to post a pic with trunk and sometimes the option is here and then at times like this it is not???

I tried to post it earlier but it was too large (only 1.8Mb) and a bit of messing around to downsize...

See how we go this time...

[AndyR]

Nope no option to post an image. Why does this feature come and go???

[AndyR]

Ok I had to expand the options.... still, I've not used that feature before....

Anyway sorry for the noise, here's the downsized image showing trunk.

[Moose]

Far from being any kind of Pritchardia expert, from my experience, P. remota is the slowest of the five I have growing. Planted in June 2006 its overall height is 1 m. The P. hildebrandii is the second slowest at 2 m, planted at the same time. This does presuppose that the palms were actually what the grower said they were when I acquired them.

[Peter G]

Andy, when are we going to see more of your garden, it looks like there's a lot going on, behind that Pritchardia

[Mandrew968]

Far from being any kind of Pritchardia expert, from my experience, P. remota is the slowest of the five I have growing. Planted in June 2006 its overall height is 1 m. The P. hildebrandii is the second slowest at 2 m, planted at the same time. This does presuppose that the palms were actually what the grower said they were when I acquired them.

No, Andy's palm is not remota, and no, remota is not the slowest Pritchardia I grow--it is the most drought tolerant though.

[colin Peters]

There is a good key to Pritchardia on page 63 of Don Hodel's book Loulu. The book is available thru UH press of University of Hawaii. A great

investment IMO. Yours looks like P. hilledebrandii, at least from the pictures you have posted, and looks like the ones here in our neighborhood, but

sometimes Pritchardia can be tricky to ID.

aloha

[AndyR]

Thanks everyone and aloha Colin!

Will post pics when I get my head around it Peter. Have asked a question about galleries but no reply. Wont allow me currently...

Still reckon this is Blue Moon as per Axels pics. Anyone know where I can get some seed? Just setting up a germination area today!

[JasonD]

Your photo shows a plant without the continuous abaxial covering of lepidia (silvery scales) seen on P. minor. I'd guess P. hillebrandii.

Not to be a Donnie Downer, but remember that Pritchardia hillebrandii has only one "D" in the specific epithet, named for William Hillebrand. His home garden in Honolulu became the nucleus for Foster Botanical Gardens.

[AndyR]

Old habits Jason! Everyone I speak with (or used to speak with as it's been a while) names it with the 'd'. Just doesn't sound right!

If it is hillebrandii then the variety interests me as I do recall the standard variety not doing well or not looking as good as this one. Still looks like blue moon as per previous pics....

Would love some seed of these and the other dwarf varieties! Any suggestions?

I see it on RPS but not on their list for sale - http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/pix/PriBlu.shtml

Thank you...