Ravenea Sp (cycadifolia)

[Alberto]

RPS site says: A smallish, possibly undescribed Ravenea from Madagascar, clearly related to R. glauca but with more numerous, very finely divided, Cycas-like leaves. We think it has enormous potential for horticulture. A must-try for any serious collector.

Other german site says it comes from dry thorny forests from south Madagascar.....

I´ve heard it is very cold hardy...

Who grows this palm?

[MattyB]

bump

[Really full garden]

Matt ,thanks for the bump.I have read that R.glauca is frost tolerant.I am not concerned about cold weather.I just thought it was an interesting palm and wanted to try it.

[MattyB]

Yeah, I got started on a search after seeing your post and this popped up so I just bumped it. Probably too new to get any info but it does look pretty cool.

[Charles Wychgel]

Bumping again

Just received this palm from a nursery in Germany: Thrinax

Apparently it was found in the south of Madagascar by Gunter Gottlebe of http://seeds-of-madagascar.com/

The first photo shows the inflorescence(copyright Gunter Gottlebe)

Second and third photo are of my plants

Any thoughts?

[Alberto]

What a beatifull healthy little palm! Ik ben jaloers!!!

[Really full garden]

I ended up with 100% germination.Seedling growth is slow.My seedlings still have just one leaf.The small treepot is filled with an extensive root system so I imagine their growth rate will increase soon.Mine are planted in a light quick draining mix and receive direct sun for 2-3 hours daily.

[Charles Wychgel]

I have read that R.glauca is frost tolerant.I am not concerned about cold weather.I just thought it was an interesting palm and wanted to try it.

I ended up with 100% germination.Seedling growth is slow.My seedlings still have just one leaf.The small treepot is filled with an extensive root system so I imagine their growth rate will increase soon.Mine are planted in a light quick draining mix and receive direct sun for 2-3 hours daily.

Scott is your seedling a Ravenea glauca?

@Len

Thanx for the tip , do you have any pix?

[Really full garden]

Charles, my seedlings are supposed to be Ravenea sp. cycadifolia.I purchased the seeds from RPS.

[Charles Wychgel]

Charles, my seedlings are supposed to be Ravenea sp. cycadifolia.I purchased the seeds from RPS.

Thanx Scott

I think the small stature rules out Ravenea sp.giant looking at the pictures on Jungle music

[street124]

Planted this seedling today and was wondering what the current thoughts were on this one. Received 10 seed june 2008 and got one to germinate, I am not very good at germinating seeds.

[Really full garden]

This is my largest Ravenea sp. cycadifolia.I just potted it up from the small treepot you see in my first post.It is about 8 inches tall and really does look like a miniature Cycas.We have had an incredibly wet and dark rainy season and I was afraid I might lose these to rot or fungus but they are doing great.I think the key is a light free draining mix.It is a little slow but you can see it has grown in two years.

[BS Man about Palms]

It looks like what came around here as 'louvelli" or "juliette".

[Matt in SD]

Scott, Do you remember what the seed looked like? I got some seed from RPS a few years ago as Ravenea albicans, which it was not. But the seedlings look pretty much identical to yours, and very similar to but I think not the same a palm I bought as Ravenea louvellii. The seed had a smooth surface, was about 1/2" in diameter and flattened on one side.

Matt

[Really full garden]

Scott, Do you remember what the seed looked like? I got some seed from RPS a few years ago as Ravenea albicans, which it was not. But the seedlings look pretty much identical to yours, and very similar to but I think not the same a palm I bought as Ravenea louvellii. The seed had a smooth surface, was about 1/2" in diameter and flattened on one side.

Matt

Matt, you can still see the seed in my first post.The seed looked similar to Caryota gigas.A large seed for such a small palm.

[Tyrone]

Scott, Do you remember what the seed looked like? I got some seed from RPS a few years ago as Ravenea albicans, which it was not. But the seedlings look pretty much identical to yours, and very similar to but I think not the same a palm I bought as Ravenea louvellii. The seed had a smooth surface, was about 1/2" in diameter and flattened on one side.

Matt

My R albicans from RPS turned out looking exactly like this palm. Have wondered if they are actually R sp cycadifolia.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Charles Wychgel]

Scott's seedling does look like R.louvelii or R.albicans(if it has white underside leaflets)

Seed on R.louvelii is ovoid sometimes flat on one face almost half an inch(13-9mm) says POM and it looks like this is the size of the seed attached in the first photo.

Unfortunately there is no description of the seed of R."cycadifolia"(Tyrone do you have a pic of your seed?)

Last but not least my seedlings do look different and also not so cycad like; no seed attached unfortunately

[Palmick]

Hi all !

Here are my RPS Ravenea sp. (Cycadifolia) seeds,

raw and after a few days soaking.

Took ~1 month to sprount (~60% germination rate).

Now (2 years later) they're on their 4^th leaf.

Regards

[Tyrone]

Scott's seedling does look like R.louvelii or R.albicans(if it has white underside leaflets)

Seed on R.louvelii is ovoid sometimes flat on one face almost half an inch(13-9mm) says POM and it looks like this is the size of the seed attached in the first photo.

Unfortunately there is no description of the seed of R."cycadifolia"(Tyrone do you have a pic of your seed?)

Last but not least my seedlings do look different and also not so cycad like; no seed attached unfortunately

No pic of the seed, sorry. I can't even remember what it looked like. I've repotted these "R albicans" up and i must say that they are an easy grow though a bit slow. Always really deep almost black green, not phased by winter at all. They're not even phased by a rat that ate all the leaves off, they just grew back. I bought in two seedlings from another supplier as R albicans too, hoping they'd have white under the leaves and bought the same plant whatever it is. I still do not have R albicans. Probably incredibly hard to come by. R albicans is bifid for a long time with white underneath whereas this plant is pinnate from the get go and deep green everywhere. Looking at my plants, they look like they'll produce a long leaf eventually but not very wide, which would make them look like a Cycas a bit. Maybe the collectors thought they'd found R albicans for some strange reason and actually found R sp cycadifolia, or maybe even something else. I can't wait to see what these will turn into. I've got quite a few of them, so Ravenea being a dioecious species will require a few plants for future seed production. I'll plant them all in the same vicinity and stand back and see what they become. I've got plans for these in my front balinese courtyard I'm going to build. Imagine them in amongst black lava rocks and bromeliads.

Best regards

Tyrone

[DoomsDave]

Palmick!

Nice to meet you!

You sure started off with a bang . . . .

[Matt in SD]

Tyrone,

I have in my entire time gardening, had one palm eaten by a rat...and it was my Ravenea (not) 'albicans' from RPS, same as you. Apparently these could be used as rat attractant, internationally. How strange! Mine also is growing back nicely.

The seed photos posted by Palmick are definitely very close if not identical to what RPS was selling as R albicans, I think it is likely that they are the same as R 'cycadifolia'.

I'm also excited about this palm, seems like a slow but steady and robust palm.

Matt

[BS Man about Palms]

Someday I'll post a pic of a true local albicans... VERY white under the leaves..

[Charles Wychgel]

Here are my RPS Ravenea sp. (Cycadifolia) seeds

raw and after a few days soaking.

Took ~1 month to sprount (~60% germination rate).

Now (2 years later) they're on their 4^th leaf.

Thanks Palmick and bemvindo on the forum

Any pictures of your seedlings?

[LilikoiLee]

Going to the top of my Wish List!

[Palmick]

@ Dave: Thanks ! And nice to meet you too !

@ Charles: Obrigado ! I'll post seedling pics as soon as I get to shoot them at their present development stage.

Regards

[Palmick]

Meanwhile, here are some germination /early seedling potting pics.

Regards

[Charles Wychgel]

Phat roots Palmick just like the seedling I planted today

[JD in the OC]

I agree with BS Man, Matt in SD, and Tyrone.. I bought seeds of R. albicans from RPS only to find out they were actually Ravenea louvelii which is a crappy, slow-growing ravenea IMO. Only have 1 or 2 left out of 100. It may not be all Toby's fault.. blind leading the blind and all that..

[Tyrone]

If they are Ravenea louvelii I'm really happy with them. They're deep green and pristine. I actually thought they keyed out a R louvelii as well. If that's what they are I'm extremely happy. Haven't lost one yet, not even to total rat defoliation.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Palmick]

One of my ~2 years old seedlings,

now on its 4th leaf (plus 5th spear showing).

Leaflets underside on the 2nd pic.

Regards

[Alberto]

I still do not have any R.cycadifolia but I hope to have it ...in future.

How are the little palms growing? How they fared trough the winter?

Thanks!

[fdrc65]

<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/4985732661_187886c510_z.jpg" />

My small cycadifolia is slow, 2 little leaves in one year and after a long hot summer, now is 5 leaves, this is an old picture

Edited September 27, 2011 by fdrc65

[Tyrone]

I still do not have any R.cycadifolia but I hope to have it ...in future.

How are the little palms growing? How they fared trough the winter?

Thanks!

Mine are still chugging along very happily. I may pot them up this spring.

Best regards

Tyrone

[fdrc65]

My small cycadifolia is slow, 2 little leaves in one year and after a long hot summer, now is 5 leaves, this is an old picture

[Really full garden]

This is my largest,just about 22cm tall and about 30cm in diameter.It has gotten much fuller this past year and has 8 mature leaves and one emerging.I think I will plant this one out ASAP.I think it will do well planted on the rocky hillside behind my house.

[Alberto]

Nice palm,Scott!gt

[Tomas]

Hi Alberto,

I have small seedling, five leaves. -1°C, -2°C directly on the plant did nothing to this palm.

Tomas

[FNQ Marcus]

Okay, now I’m a little confused……

I purchased Ravenea sp. (Cycadifolia) from RPS and when the seeds arrived they were labeled as Ravenea dransfeildii (Cycadifolia). While in the previous posts I saw no mention of R. dransfieldii. Also as you can see, the seeds look nothing like those in the photo from Palmick. What have I ended up with??

The good news is that one seed germinated after one night soaking in warm water, so I’m off to a good start regardless.

[Charles Wychgel]

Marcus I just ordered a Ravenea dransfieldii from PPP, a 20/40 cm plant supposed to arrive next Tuesday, so I can compare it with my young R.cycadifolia

Here is the picture from their catalogue

And here a recent photo of my R.cycadifolia

[Really full garden]

Charles, your R.cycadifolia is really taking off.I planted my largest potted one almost a year ago and it has not done anything.I am hoping that it is establishing a massive root system and one of these days I wil see an explosion of growth.