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Roystonea regia with colourful crownshafts


Carlo Morici

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As promised, I took some pictures of some Roystonea regia with colourful crownshafts. Please consider that I did not wait for their best moment. I just shot some pictures around, so some of them can be much, much, brighter when caught in their best moment.

This can’t be the only place in the world with “red” royals, so please give a look around your town and feel free to post your pictures here too.

Carlo, Tenerife

Let’s start again with the ones shown in the thread Pictures from Tenerife II (link: http://palmtalk.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboar...ct=ST;f=1;t=382 ) .

Junta del Puerto – Santa Cruz de Tenerife

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A crownshaft with rust-red scales. About one third of the Royals grown here look like this.

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A line of four Roystonea planted in the year 2000, by the Post office main building, in Santa Cruz. Three “reds” in a row:

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Three:

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This was in a pot in a nursery in La Orotava, and shows some lime-yellow. Also the youngest internode is more colourful than the usual brown. This is not uncommon and there are one or two plants at the palmetum which have even some pink or orange in their lime-green crownshafts.

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These two may use hearth attacks to some collectors. They are – let’s say  - pinangously burgundy. They are in a highway intersection in La Orotava.

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This one grows by the former two, but this leafsheath is reall about to fall, so I don’t know if this “counts”-

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It is enough for now, I look forward getting some feedback.

Carlo, Tenerife

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Carlo,

I think you can make some money if you can get some seeds off some of those. I for one would place an order for some of those more colorful ones. I have seen a lot of Royals and I'm sure I would have noticed those colors if they were there.

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Kona, on The Big Island
Hawaii - Land of Volcanoes

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What about these bottles ? Same thing ?

Bottlecrownshaftspinkred_800.jpg

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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What an astonishing lack of feedback! I still believe there must be more red royals in this world. None of you has pictures to post?

Dypsisdean,

It would not be too bad to make some money, it is not a sin. All the specimens I have shown are juveniles but I might find some adult ones. Be sure I will squeeze the palms and you will get some seeds, sooner or later.

Wal,

Nice colour on your bottles. I do not know exactly what and why, but most young H.lagenicaulis show reddish hues on petioles and sheaths, while adults are (all?) green with some glaucous wax. So maybe the red lasts during the juvenile stage, when the old leafbases are marcescent and don't fall apart until someone removes them.

Any other opinion?

Carlo

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Carlo,

I am to start looking at the royals planted around Manaus to see if any of them have different coloration on the crown shafts.  I don't ever remember noticing this though and there are a lot of them planted around town.

dk

Don Kittelson

 

LIFE ON THE RIO NEGRO

03° 06' 07'' South 60° 01' 30'' West

Altitude 92 Meters / 308 feet above sea level

1,500 kms / 932 miles to the mouth of the Amazon River

 

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil - A Cidade da Floresta

Where the world´s largest Tropical Rainforest embraces the Greatest Rivers in the World. .

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Click here to visit Amazonas

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Carlo, Great pictures, very beautiful palms. I wonder if they are true to seed? I would love to buy some seed and give them a try. I think you can make alot of $ if you can get some seed. I think the pics of the bottles are unusual. Alot have some red but I have never seen them like that.  Shouldn't a bottle with wood that size have a fatter trunk? Maybe a hybrid?

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I am living the sin of envy. thank you for those red roystoneas; bruno

antananarivo madagascar

altitude 1200m

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Great pictures!  I've never seen a Roystonea with a reddish crownshaft...

Jack Sayers

East Los Angeles

growing cold tolerant palms halfway between the equator and the arctic circle...

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Carlo,

Those are truly incredible looking Royals! Maybe something unique to Tenerife? :)  Have never seen any Royals like that anywhere!

Bo

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

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Carlo,

   Incredible! You must keep your eyes wide open for seed. This palm needs to be spread around. Like my yard for instances ! Thanks again.....

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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  • 1 year later...

These are the ones in the little "Plaza San Antonio de Texas" (San Antonio was founded by Canarian inmigrants). They are always on the red side, but this time they looked darker than usual, chocolate-brown.

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These are not red at all, but I always wandered why they look so different. They have been "like that" during the past 10 years.

CopiadeP1010029_redimensionar.jpg

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Carlo,

I agree with everyone else here: GET THAT SEED!  It really would be a service to the palm community as I don't think they are anywhere else.  The first two in post 16 look a little different with shorter internodes too.  Almost Satakentia like.

Jerry

So many species,

so little time.

Coconut Creek, Florida

Zone 10b (Zone 11 except for once evey 10 or 20 years)

Last Freeze: 2011,50 Miles North of Fairchilds

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Have not seen any "reds" here in Manila.  Colud it be an environmental condition of where you live that is causing that?  Mabe its something in the soil or in the water?

Gene

Manila, Philippines

53 feet above sea level - inland

Hot and dry in summer, humid and sticky monsoon season, perfect weather Christmas time

http://freakofnaturezzz.blogspot.com/

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No seeds yet, the few blooming ones have been pruned again. But there is an army of young red royals growing here and there so I am sure that in two or three years I will be able to get loads of seeds.

Here are a few more shots of little square "San Antonio de Tejas".

There are four Roystonea regia and two Syagrus romanzoffiana. A bit overcrowded.

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I hate to rain on anyone's parade...

But, mine get red just before the crownshafts get ready to come down.  The next time I have one that is red, I will post a picture.

Winter Springs (Orlando area), Florida

Zone 9b/10a

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Carlo--

Those are gorgeous. Are they R. regia or another species?

Any info available from local growers there? Someone must have supplied them to the City; maybe they'll give you a seed source?

ck--

The ones I've seen in FL aren't that colorful before falling. Any pics of your leaf litter? ???

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

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Could they be Roystonea vioalcea ?

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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(Wal @ Dec. 22 2007,21:17)

QUOTE
Could they be Roystonea vioalcea ?

Wal,

    No. I have 3 large ones, and pretty certain it's R. violacea. Their as green as the slime in my pond....... :D . Anyways, mine have not flowered yet, and are starting to get pretty big, so until then, can't be 100% sure.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Gene, I do not believe it is much due to the environment. Local soils are usually rich and volcanic, but, the islands are very diverse and we have many different soils (and climates). Red royals stay red througout their life and green royals stay green, even if they are growing close by.

CK, The pictured leaves are not old (except the second one in  post #6). They are brighter when freshly exposed and slowly turn to dull brownish colours before falling.

Fastfeat, Wal, Jeff, I think they are Roystonea regia.

Fastfeat, all these palms are from local seeds. They have been always around on the islands. The first royals reached the Canary Islands from Cuba around 1860. Local growers did not pay much attention, because everybody here thinks this is normal and normal buyers don't mind if it is green, reddish or dark red. Of course seedlings all look the same and the colour appears when they start trunking.

I should send some pictures to the Cuban botanists to see what they think.

Carlo

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Very nice Carlo.  At first I was thinking, did someone add some color tinting someway to the crownshaft?  I've never seen any Roystoneas with color like that before.  Thanks for sharing.

Hawaii Island (Big Island), leeward coast, 19 degrees N. latitude, south Kona mauka at approx. 380m (1,250 ft.) and about 1.6 km (1-mile) upslope from ocean.

 

No record of a hurricane passing over this island (yet!).  

Summer maximum rainfall - variable averaging 900-1150mm (35-45") - Perfect drainage on black volcanic rocky soil.  

Nice sunsets!

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Carlo,Thank you for the incredible sight of those Roystonea.I am convinced,no paint trucks in the vicinity!The darker colors on those other specimen are also incredible.I think it is a result of your out of the ordinary conditions and can not be duplicated elsewhere.

What you look for is what is looking

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Carlo,

I've got a few questions for you with a few thoughts on the subject.

1.  Is the red color more on the sun-exposed side of the crown shaft?  Some photos seem to suggest this.  Or, is it the same color circumferentially?

2.  When an old crown shaft is just removed, is the shaft below it immediately the red color or does it "develop"?  This would give insight as to whether it is sunlight induced.

3.  Do you ever see such colors on other crown shafted species?

I've heard multiple descriptions of Dypsis species in Madagascar that have "orange crown shafts" which turn out to be old shafts that are aging with an orange hue.  Now, perhaps all this doesn't matter at all, but investigating the development of the color might teach us how it's happening.

Phil

Jungle Music Palms and Cycads, established 1977 and located in Encinitas, CA, 20 miles north of San Diego on the Coast.  Phone:  619 2914605 Link to Phil's Email phil.bergman@junglemusic.net Website: www.junglemusic.net Link to Jungle Music Palms and Cycads

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(Phil @ Dec. 23 2007,14:19)

QUOTE

1.  Is the red color more on the sun-exposed side of the crown shaft?  Some photos seem to suggest this.  Or, is it the same color circumferentially?

Right, it is usually brighter on the sun-exposed side, but they are all somehow coloured and some times it is the same all over. They change with the season: in winter they are all greener.

2.  When an old crown shaft is just removed, is the shaft below it immediately the red color or does it "develop"?  This would give insight as to whether it is sunlight induced.

I think it is immediately and then it can change a little bit.

3.  Do you ever see such colors on other crown shafted species?

No, never. And coloured-crownshafted palms such as Archontophoenix purpurea are not more colourful here than somewhere else.

Nevertheless, plants here often show brighter colours than in Florida or in the lowland tropics, because of the fertile soils and the cooler nights. For example, bromeliads here are bright and showy like in Hawaii, while in FL I often saw paler colours.

Today I have given a look to the reddest of all, which is the one in the 1st post, that has been overpruned again, and it was all green with just a little hint of purple.

But once again, red roystoneas stay red and greens stay green. The reds may get greener at some times but the greens will never get red.

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(fastfeat @ Dec. 22 2007,21:06)

QUOTE
Carlo--

Those are gorgeous. Are they R. regia or another species?

Any info available from local growers there? Someone must have supplied them to the City; maybe they'll give you a seed source?

ck--

The ones I've seen in FL aren't that colorful before falling. Any pics of your leaf litter? ???

You are correct in that the red color is not quite that dark.  But, mine definitely do get red before falling off.  Perhaps, those stay on a little longer?  Perhaps those are a different variety of Roystonea?  Like I said, when I get one that turns red, I will snap a digital picture and post it here.

ck

Winter Springs (Orlando area), Florida

Zone 9b/10a

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Carlo,

Thanks for the answers and interesting topic.  The trees are really gorgeous.  I've not seen this occur in my area of San Diego, CA.  Nor do I recall seeing it much in HI or Florida.  Do you think that most of the Royals there came from an original single batch?  Ie, one plant seeded and these seeds were the source of others on the Island?

Phil

Jungle Music Palms and Cycads, established 1977 and located in Encinitas, CA, 20 miles north of San Diego on the Coast.  Phone:  619 2914605 Link to Phil's Email phil.bergman@junglemusic.net Website: www.junglemusic.net Link to Jungle Music Palms and Cycads

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I agree with Wal. I think they are Roystonea Vioalcea not R.Regia. Judging by the color of the crown shaft, also how the branches don't droop below the crown shaft, and the trunk is not real fat at the base. But what do I know?

Mike Ricigliano

New Smyrna beach

Florida, zone 9 Beachside

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Phil, Cuba and the Canary Islands were one country (Spain!) until the end of the 19th century. Boat connections were continuous and I am sure royals were repeatedly introduced to the different islands of the archipelago.

On the other hand, I have cruised twice roystonealand in Eastern Cuba, hunting for the lost (?) R.stellata and I think that none of the narrow endemic Roystonea species looked so colourful... but maybe it was just the wrong time of the year?

Look at these, they are some of the oldest roystoneas on the islands. Other early inroductions have already died of age.

The "twin" roystonea of Argual, on the island of La Palma.

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Carving on the trunk, dating 1881

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Oh, man Carlo I forgot about these beauties!  You should talk to the city tree trimmers so that they don't prune them before seed arrives.  Please put me down on the waiting list to buy some seed.  They are amazing!  Thanks for sharing!

Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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  • 6 years later...

Great thread, Great work Carlo, got em' all entered in Palmpedia, top page! Thanks Carlo, Ed

MOSQUITO LAGOON

Oak_Hill.gif

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It might be that they are burnt by the sun. Perhaps the sunlight is stronger in that location. I don't know.

Brevard County, Fl

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  • 2 years later...

This is an old post but I'm curious if any explanation was discovered. And even more curious if any seeds were ever obtained.

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