Reinhardtia latisecta flowering, very colorful inflorescences

[Eric in Orlando]

Our largest specimen of Reinhardtia latisecta  is flowering. The clump is about 6ft tall. It was planted in July 2009 and was about 2ft tall then. Surprisingly it survived the winter of 2009-10 with no damage. The inflorescences are a hot pink color and really stand out in the shade. The Fishtail Palm growing behind it is Caryota ophiopellis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eric in Orlando]

 

[Eric in Orlando]

 

[Neil C]

Great colour! That red rivals a lipstick.

Regards Neil

[Mantis sp.]

[topwater]

Gorgeous.  I thought R. latisecta was a 10b palm which makes it even more impressive. 

[Eric in Orlando]

I think they are hardier than originally thought. We have a second specimen that is smaller (about 4ft) and was planted a couple years earlier. It wasn't damaged either. We also have a mature R.gracilis that suffered minor burn in that winter. Since 2009-10 I have planted a R. paiewonskiana, I've heard it has potential hardiness. All of them are slow growers.

[annafl]

That's gorgeous, Eric!  How did I miss that one?  I guess there's just so much to see there.  I saw the Reinhardtia gracilis and it seemed to have more of the pronounced windows than the latisecta.  Love these palms!  Thanks for posting this amazing inflorescence!

[Eric in Orlando]

These inflorescnces hold the color for a long time. It started flowering back in early December.

[realarch]

Such beautiful palms with interesting leaves, nice habit, and colorful inflorescence's. 

Beautiful specimen Eric. 

Tim

[topwater]

Is Leu Gardens 9b or 10a, and what's the lowest temp y'all have seen in the last 10-15 years.  I'm  amazed at the stuff you've been able to pull off in central FL, you give hope to all of us not in Coral Gables . Thanks.

Edited February 4, 2017 by topwater

[Eric in Orlando]

Long term it is a solid 9b/borderline 10a. It is in the metro heat island which has gotten much stronger in the last 15 years. I have worked at Leu since 1992. The coldest temperature in that time has been 26F in Feb. 1996. Jan. 2001 and 2003 had a night at 27F. But prior to the disastrous freezes of the 1980's this area was borderline zone 10 with larger Royal palms,and good sized Ficus, Royal Poincianas and Mango trees. Those freezes were before I was at Leu but pre-1983 there was a mature Royal palm at Leu along with flowering Delonix and Spathodea and 2 big Ceiba pentandra. Mr. Leu had planted an interesting mix of tropical trees mixed with camellias, Southern Indica azaleas and roses. Old accounts also said one of the largest Jacaranda and  Melaleuca trees in Florida was here, gone by 1990. But some tropical trees Mr. Leu planted survived and have grown back.

[CB Lisa]

First post...been 'lurking' here quietly for a while! Thank you so much for posting these pictures! I've been to Leu a number of times and I somehow also missed this one, as well as the Caryota ophiopelis! I have both of these in pots...so maybe I'm ok over here on the East coast putting these in the ground?! That would be happy news! 

[topwater]

I'm in a honest 9b spot waterfront on lower Galveston Bay. Houston is 9a, supposedly warmer downtown due to the heat island effect. My experiene is that the concrete heat sink effect is useless during a adjective freeze, priceless for a radiant freeze.  But I'm usually wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eric in Orlando]

What helps around here is an older tree canopy and the hundreds of lakes in the Orlando area. At Leu Gardens there is a good forest canopy at that helps for frost protection and heat trapping and also as a windbreak. We are also on the southeast corner of Lake Rowena.

[DoomsDave]

Wow, very nice!

I have a number of Reinhardtias, and while they have to have their shade, they're very sturdy and reliable in general. And they're so pretty.

 

[Palm Tree Jim]

48 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Wow, very nice!

I have a number of Reinhardtias, and while they have to have their shade, they're very sturdy and reliable in general. And they're so pretty.

 

DD,

In the ground?

Pictures my friend!

[DoomsDave]

5 minutes ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

DD,

In the ground?

Pictures my friend!

In pots, for now.

[XYZ]

Beautiful palm and a very interesting post. As always, original provenance is key to success with some of these offbeat tropicals. Being familiar with most of the species in nature and two species in cultivation I would never have bought into any member of this genus being truly frost tolerant. The vast majority of the mainland species are denizens of undisturbed lowland tropical rainforest and pluvial forest. Does anyone here grow R simplex? If I would not have read this post, I would have guessed that it and R. paiewonskiana (?Really? proper generic placement?) would have been the best candidates for year-round, in-ground cultivation in sheltered, reliably warm parts of the subtropical US, but even then would be a gamble.

These palms are rock stars where the occur in numbers. Drifting through feathery, chest high thickets comprised of dense colonies of R. gracilis var gracilior and dotted with mature Synecanthus fibrosus and Asterogyne martiana are some of my favorites memories of (then) virgin Caribbean coastal rainforest in Guatemala where I lived for a couple years as a young man. They appear to have zero tolerance for even the lightest selective logging.

J

[Dave-Vero]

Quite a sight.  I need to drive over.  

The great 1989 freeze, which followed a series of bad ones, killed most of the royal palms in Brevard and Indian River counties (I can see a survivor from my kitchen window in Vero Beach).  It also killed native Bursera simaruba / gumbo limbo "trees" (actually fairly short) in Cocoa Beach.  I was in Jacksonville at the time.  We got covered with ice.  The Butia capitatas in the yard didn't mind it, and some terrestrial bromeliads were unfazed.  

[Eric in Orlando]

18 hours ago, stone jaguar said:

Beautiful palm and a very interesting post. As always, original provenance is key to success with some of these offbeat tropicals. Being familiar with most of the species in nature and two species in cultivation I would never have bought into any member of this genus being truly frost tolerant. The vast majority of the mainland species are denizens of undisturbed lowland tropical rainforest and pluvial forest. Does anyone here grow R simplex? If I would not have read this post, I would have guessed that it and R. paiewonskiana (?Really? proper generic placement?) would have been the best candidates for year-round, in-ground cultivation in sheltered, reliably warm parts of the subtropical US, but even then would be a gamble.

These palms are rock stars where the occur in numbers. Drifting through feathery, chest high thickets comprised of dense colonies of R. gracilis var gracilior and dotted with mature Synecanthus fibrosus and Asterogyne martiana are some of my favorites memories of (then) virgin Caribbean coastal rainforest in Guatemala where I lived for a couple years as a young man. They appear to have zero tolerance for even the lightest selective logging.

J

 

Its always nice to see habitat pics!

[DoomsDave]

On 2/6/2017, 7:34:39, Palm Tree Jim said:

DD,

In the ground?

Pictures my friend!

You ask

you git:

These are baby latisectas in gallon pots

[DoomsDave]

And gracilior gracilis, also in gallon pots

[Palm Tree Jim]

DD,

You the man!!!!

[DoomsDave]

19 minutes ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

DD,

You the man!!!!

I know!

[Mandrew968]

These palms are not good growers from what I have seen, in South Florida. If they were, you would see them a lot more and I see virtually none. Not sure what it is...

[Palm Tree Jim]

12 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

You ask

you git:

These are baby latisectas in gallon pots

DD,

Are these a slow grow for you?

[DoomsDave]

Just now, Palm Tree Jim said:

DD,

Are these a slow grow for you?

Yes, though not glacially. More like Chamadorea metallica.

Very nice, worthwhile small palm.

I'm startled I don't have some in my garden. That will change soon.

I'm also going to plant some of the others.

[XYZ]

I agree that they're on the slow side, but not to the point of prompting grower exasperation. Once they get some size on them and start clustering they are much quicker to fill out. Several spp are found occasionally on marine limestone, so definitely not calciphobes. Eric & Dave's images notwithstanding, I am reluctant to believe that a broader sampling of seed-grown examples of these plants will be found to be reliably hardy in the subtropical US.

But anything's possible.

[DoomsDave]

3 hours ago, stone jaguar said:

I agree that they're on the slow side, but not to the point of prompting grower exasperation. Once they get some size on them and start clustering they are much quicker to fill out. Several spp are found occasionally on marine limestone, so definitely not calciphobes. Eric & Dave's images notwithstanding, I am reluctant to believe that a broader sampling of seed-grown examples of these plants will be found to be reliably hardy in the subtropical US.

But anything's possible.

We'll find out, one way or another!

[Eric in Orlando]

On 2/6/2017, 2:03:02, stone jaguar said:

 

[Eric in Orlando]

They also are not very drought tolerant. They are much happier with adequate moisture and watering.

 

 

[XYZ]

These are mostly lowland TRF palms. I was never tempted to test their tolerance to any real water restrictions for prolonged periods but would assume it to be low to none.