The most beautiful Phoenix, the rupicola

[Cikas 433]

19 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Hey Cikas I doubt it's a pure reclinata.  Here is a picture of a pure reclinata and a picture of my tree.  Im leaning to it being a cross between both reclinata and rupicola.  As you can see the fronds from the pure reclinata has like a scraggly look and my tree has a flat cleaner look.

I have pure Reclinata, and mine looks like that on second photo. 

To me that one on first photo looks like hybrid (leaves are too plumose). 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Cikas

[DoomsDave 8,754]

5 hours ago, Reyes Vargas said:

So the mystery continues.  I guess I'll never know exactly what I have. I do like the way the palm looks though.  It kinda looks like a coconut, not quite but almost.  Thanks sonoranfans for your input.  One question, if I plant the seeds that I collected from the tree will I get another palm that looks like the parent or can it look different?

I have to agree with @sonoranfans on his diagnosis

[palmfriend 1,582]

Hi there,

here are - I am pretty sure - two "pure" ones grown from seed (rps) and now five years old.

Completely carefree but happy and really beautiful. I have several in my garden but these two are at the moment the best ones with a clear view/spot on them... 

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[Reyes Vargas 283]

8 hours ago, palmfriend said:

Hi there,

here are - I am pretty sure - two "pure" ones grown from seed (rps) and now five years old.

Completely carefree but happy and really beautiful. I have several in my garden but these two are at the moment the best ones with a clear view/spot on them... 

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

Hey there Lars those are some nice looking rupicola.  They look something like mine.  I've always thought that mine were rupicola but I'm not 100% sure.  I'm thinking of buying some seeds from RPS.  Does anyone know if RPS sell pure rupicolas seeds?

[palmfriend 1,582]

Hey Reyes,

since Phoenix seeds are looking kind of similar I trust rps' experience dealing with their providers and so far I am not 

disappointed. I am not an expert at all (at least at the moment  ) but I think that the seeds I got from rps five 

years ago were accurate. I always check in if a Rupicola thread comes up and until now I am pretty sure that I am on the 

safe side - the provided Rupicolas were always similar looking to my ones, so I got no reason for a doubt.

I hope it helps for the moment, best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[Reyes Vargas 283]

On 11/15/2020 at 2:32 AM, palmfriend said:

Hi there,

here are - I am pretty sure - two "pure" ones grown from seed (rps) and now five years old.

Completely carefree but happy and really beautiful. I have several in my garden but these two are at the moment the best ones with a clear view/spot on them... 

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

Hello I just saw the palm tree in the background and it has a small pup growing at the base of the mother palm.  I have been told on here that Phoenix rupicolas do not sucker.  Since it has a small pup growing I'm pretty sure you don't have a pure cliff date palm.

[palmfriend 1,582]

22 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

Hello I just saw the palm tree in the background and it has a small pup growing at the base of the mother palm.  I have been told on here that Phoenix rupicolas do not sucker.  Since it has a small pup growing I'm pretty sure you don't have a pure cliff date palm.

Good spot but this is NOT a pup, it is a separate (!) Rupicola I planted at the same time but it didn't "blow up" as the other two. I probably planted it too close to the (now) bigger one 

- my fault. I am usually keeping a close eye on my Rupicolas ( I have got five or more in the ground) and there are definitely no suckers around - I would recognize - so I am 

pretty sure I am still on the safe "pure" side.

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

 

[sonoranfans 1,907]

I planted a triple rupicola as 3 gallons in 2011, they are among my slower palms.  Pure rupicolas are hard to get here in florida, this triple came from MB palms.  A couple things about rupicolas: 1) red fruit, not orange 2) flexible/bendy thorns on the petiole with flat leaves, non plumose.   ANd yes they dont sucker, period.  As you get close to the trunk ont he petiole, the thorns bend at the base easily though the rest of the thorn is somewhat rigid.  I almost never get stabbed trimming these.  I planted some dwarf bamboo to retain privacy and a windbreak when the rupis grow up, but I didnt realize that would take forever.  These here are about 12' overall and are in bright sun since summer 2011.  Pictured is the planted little ones in 2011 and the grown cluster.  Yeah its hard to make out the (3) individuals in a pic.  One has gone to seed and it was quite red..

[subsonicdrone 41]

i grew this one from seed... from rps

 

[Reyes Vargas 283]

4 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

I planted a triple rupicola as 3 gallons in 2011, they are among my slower palms.  Pure rupicolas are hard to get here in florida, this triple came from MB palms.  A couple things about rupicolas: 1) red fruit, not orange 2) flexible/bendy thorns on the petiole with flat leaves, non plumose.   ANd yes they dont sucker, period.  As you get close to the trunk ont he petiole, the thorns bend at the base easily though the rest of the thorn is somewhat rigid.  I almost never get stabbed trimming these.  I planted some dwarf bamboo to retain privacy and a windbreak when the rupis grow up, but I didnt realize that would take forever.  These here are about 12' overall and are in bright sun since summer 2011.  Pictured is the planted little ones in 2011 and the grown cluster.  Yeah its hard to make out the (3) individuals in a pic.  One has gone to seed and it was quite red..

Do you mean red seeds like this?  This is a picture of one of my palms in fruit.  When you get seeds from your palm I would be interested in buying some.

[sonoranfans 1,907]

yep those are the color of rupicola fruit.  I was told long ago on this board that the thorns bending easily at their base was also unique to rupicolas among phoenix sp.

[Jan Jo 401]

Hey, 

I have one Rupicola which I planted about 4 years ago and which is now picking up speed... Good grower for me and not too many nutrient problems at the moment (there were at the beginning)... 

The thorns at the base aren't vicious but they aren't totally insignificant either.. 

I only have (and only want) these Phoenix and Roebellini in my garden... By far my favorite in the genus

[Jan Jo 401]

On 11/17/2020 at 3:30 PM, sonoranfans said:

I planted a triple rupicola as 3 gallons in 2011, they are among my slower palms.  Pure rupicolas are hard to get here in florida, this triple came from MB palms.  A couple things about rupicolas: 1) red fruit, not orange 2) flexible/bendy thorns on the petiole with flat leaves, non plumose.   ANd yes they dont sucker, period.  As you get close to the trunk ont he petiole, the thorns bend at the base easily though the rest of the thorn is somewhat rigid.  I almost never get stabbed trimming these.  I planted some dwarf bamboo to retain privacy and a windbreak when the rupis grow up, but I didnt realize that would take forever.  These here are about 12' overall and are in bright sun since summer 2011.  Pictured is the planted little ones in 2011 and the grown cluster.  Yeah its hard to make out the (3) individuals in a pic.  One has gone to seed and it was quite red..

I'd like to plant another couple of Rupicola's in my garden, I picked up a couple of seedlings and I'm tempted to plant them together, but the crowns seem to get pretty huge, don't they? And hard to make out the individual palms, as you say.. At that size at least.. Very nice tho! 

[kinzyjr 3,834]

[palmsOrl 1,597]

That is a fine looking specimen Jeremy.