My Raveneas

[PalmatierMeg]

Last week I received 2 R. glauca and 1 R. hildebrandtii from George Sparkman/Cycads n Palms. I planted the R. glaucas in place of a Bentinckia nicobarica that succumbed to winter. Yesterday I planted the R. hildebrandtii in place of a Synechanthus and a Heterospathe minor that also croaked.

I got to adding up the number of Raveneas I have and saw quite a selection. Last night I took photos.

Ravenea rivularis - I have two majesties about the same age but one benefits from a/c runoff and grows larger.

Ravenea xerophila - Last year I planted this palm in my cactus container garden where I hope it benefits from full sun and good drainage.

Ravenea glauca - After a frustrating search I found these two decently sized palms to plant along the seawall in place of my late, lamented B. nicobarica.

Left palm

Right palm

Ravenea hildebrandtii - This little palm went in the shade garden

[BS Man about Palms]

Nice collection Meg. Its good at pointing out they are not all "just Majesty's".

[PalmatierMeg]

Ravenea louvelii - This palm sits right next to its kin R. hildebrandtii. It came through winter with only minor burn.

Ravenea julietiae - Photos of adult palms show it to be fairly tall but this tiny specimen has been in my shade garden nearly 18 months and still looks like a tiny fern. Talk about slow.

Ravenea hildebrandtii ?? - I remember planting a R. hildebrandtii sometime in 2009 but over winter my palms lost a lot of labels. Could this palm be my missing Ravenea? If not, what might it be? Thanks for any input.

[peachy]

They are gorgeous Meg. I only have majestics, glauca and krociana. Don't see many of the others for sale, but now I have seen R. hildebrandtii and louvelii, I intend to torture the owners of every nursery in the state until I can get some. I might pull up my bentinckias to make extra space for them.

Peachy

[BS Man about Palms]

Meg, as far as ID goes, with Raveneas, its better to go by the underside of the leaf and the petiole to help ID. You have any "under" shots?

[Tyrone]

Raveneas are a really underrated Madagascan genus. They are all stunning.

I've got some Ravenea's I bought in from RPS as R albicans. They aren't that as they are pinnate from the get go and have no white underneath the leaflets, but they are one of the greenest almost black green leaved palms I have.

I love this genus.

Thanks for posting the pics of your very rare and healthy specimens.

Best regards

Tyrone

[GTClover]

Meg, they are Beautiful!

Susan

[sick1166]

nice

[floridagrower]

Nice collection. Ravenea glauca is hard to find...

[hanapalms]

Love those rivularis Meg,

I have a couple, they are not growing very fast; I probably need to cut loose with the water. They get runoff from the highway, when it rains. I've not seen some of those species before, be sure to show us pics when they are larger.

William

[Miccles]

Great selection of Raveneas there Meg. I wish I could access more of them here.

Only rivularis and (very rarely) glauca is available. Lovely to see the other members of the Ravenea family making an appearance via your posts.

Regards

Michael.

[John in Andalucia]

I can't get enough of R. hildebrandtii. Whenever I have them, they sell out. That's what I mean! I've never yet been able to hold one or two back for myself, unlike most other palms I sell. Meg, you've really given this winter a punch on the nose with your new plantings.

[PalmatierMeg]

Thanks, all. I'm appreciating this genus more & more. I almost went for a R. lakatra but space in the yard is becoming an issue. And I would love to get hold of some of the smaller Raveneas, esp. R. cycadfolia & the newly discovered species mentioned in Palms Journal a couple of issues back. I've given up on seeds; never had a single Ravenea germinate but they are great at rotting.

Bill, I will try to get a photo of the underside of that "mystery Ravenea". Underneath, the fronds are slightly paler with just a hint of sheen. I also noticed tiny white "fibers" that run down the center seam of each leaflet.

[yachtingone]

Meg, Very nice selection of Raveneas! To bad most of them wont live at my house . My R. glauca thrives here which is cool.

Randy

[BS Man about Palms]

Meg- I have noticed Rav. lakatra are hard to "get big" kind of have that "hedyscepe complex" you may have heard me mention. Buy the biggest lakatra you can find.

[freakypalmguy]

Beauties Meg, a very nice collection of Ravenea. "Ravenea julietiae" has a really nice ring to it.

[PalmatierMeg]

Meg- I have noticed Rav. lakatra are hard to "get big" kind of have that "hedyscepe complex" you may have heard me mention. Buy the biggest lakatra you can find.

Bill, not sure what "hedyscepe complex" means. I love that palm but haven't read many posts about it because I can't grow it here, so why torture myself? Do you mean R. lakatra requires similar growing conditions? If so, I won't bother with it. I have all I can handle nursing Acktinokentia & Laccospadix through the summer heat.

[BS Man about Palms]

No Meg, I think the Raveneas will do fine. Dean and I and some others had noticed that SOME Hedyscepes were rocket ships in their growth while others planted within 3 feet or so (sometimes further) would grow at a third the speed. What it boils down to is that palms in the "Hedyscepe complex" can have wildly disparate growth patterns for the "same palm".

For sure in this group I would put in this group the Hedy, D. prestoniana and R. lakatra. I'm trying to decide if Kentiopsis magnifica fits that or its just that most people put them in too much shade due to their slow growth.

The take-away from this is if you see a "big" one of some species that is the same age as the others "locally" and they all received decent care, you are likely looking at the superior seedling of the group.

[yachtingone]

Meg, The first pic is my Ravenea glauca taken 04/08. The rest were taken today, two years later. Btw my avatar is of this plant.

[PalmatierMeg]

Meg, The first pic is my Ravenea glauca taken 04/08. The rest were taken today, two years later. Btw my avatar is of this plant.

Randy, that is lovely. Just what I hope mine look like down the line.

[JasonD]

Meg, The first pic is my Ravenea glauca taken 04/08. The rest were taken today, two years later. Btw my avatar is of this plant.

Yes, what a satisfying documentation of a very promising species - size, sun & drought-tolerance, and graceful appearance.

[ariscott]

It is hard to find... Ravenea... I even like the plain old majestics. Please update us with more pics, Meg. I would love to see them as they are growing...

Regards, Ari

[Peter Pacific]

Ravenea louvelii - This palm sits right next to its kin R. hildebrandtii. It came through winter with only minor burn.

Ravenea julietiae - Photos of adult palms show it to be fairly tall but this tiny specimen has been in my shade garden nearly 18 months and still looks like a tiny fern. Talk about slow.

Ravenea hildebrandtii ?? - I remember planting a R. hildebrandtii sometime in 2009 but over winter my palms lost a lot of labels. Could this palm be my missing Ravenea? If not, what might it be? Thanks for any input.

Hi Meg, your Ravenea's are gorgeous. I have a R. louvelii, that I got from Justin and Derek at Seabreeze, and it should go in the ground. Do you have yours in full sun? Parial shade? Peter

[PalmatierMeg]

Ravenea louvelii - This palm sits right next to its kin R. hildebrandtii. It came through winter with only minor burn.

Ravenea julietiae - Photos of adult palms show it to be fairly tall but this tiny specimen has been in my shade garden nearly 18 months and still looks like a tiny fern. Talk about slow.

Ravenea hildebrandtii ?? - I remember planting a R. hildebrandtii sometime in 2009 but over winter my palms lost a lot of labels. Could this palm be my missing Ravenea? If not, what might it be? Thanks for any input.

Hi Meg, your Ravenea's are gorgeous. I have a R. louvelii, that I got from Justin and Derek at Seabreeze, and it should go in the ground. Do you have yours in full sun? Parial shade? Peter

Peter, I have it and R. hildebrandtii planted in shade a few feet above the seawall. In winter, it is in low-angle sunshine. It seems very happy but is only 2' tall. Maybe it could take summer sun when it gets larger but not now.

[JASON M]

Great photos. They look like thick trunked cocos! (On the Rivers)

I also finally seperated my 4 palms. I heard some ripping, but I had to deal with it. Today, I had to cut off a leaf that turned brown in 1 day. Probably from root problems.

But, They are holding well against the wind, with some help. Those dowels and string should help!

[hanapalms]

No Meg, I think the Raveneas will do fine. Dean and I and some others had noticed that SOME Hedyscepes were rocket ships in their growth while others planted within 3 feet or so (sometimes further) would grow at a third the speed. What it boils down to is that palms in the "Hedyscepe complex" can have wildly disparate growth patterns for the "same palm".

For sure in this group I would put in this group the Hedy, D. prestoniana and R. lakatra. I'm trying to decide if Kentiopsis magnifica fits that or its just that most people put them in too much shade due to their slow growth.

The take-away from this is if you see a "big" one of some species that is the same age as the others "locally" and they all received decent care, you are likely looking at the superior seedling of the group.

I'm guessing all my seeds were weaklings or they're all very slow growing biggies. At any rate my H. canterburyanas are all competing to finish last. They're all still in 2 gal pots; do you think they would do better in the ground? Again, I'm afraid they would get lost in the weeds and vines. Being mountain palms, would they like growing in a rocky area? Maybe I need to elevate them

Peachy where are you?