Tallest Livistona?

[Sandy Loam]

From reading PalmTalk, I have discovered that Livistona Decora (aka. Livistona Decipiens) is the fastest-grower according to readership consensus.  However, which Livistona is the tallest after about 20 years of growth? 

There is a Livistona Decora down the street from me, but it has remained the same size for many years now.  A Washingtonia Robusta in its place would have been much taller by now. I am beginning to speculate that perhaps Livistona Decora reaches a typical maximum growth size which is not terribly impressive, despite its rapid growth rate.  The Livistona Decora nearby, and others I have seen, tend to be about 20 feet tall or slightly less.  I have never seen a 40-foot tall Livistona Decora.

Has anyone seen a 40-foot tall Livistona Mariae?   If so, how long did it take to reach this height?

Thanks for your input.         

  

[Eric in Orlando]

Livistona decora grows very fast until it gets to about 20ft then it slows down considerably. The oldest we have at Leu Gardens was planted in 1986 and is just about 30ft tall. Another that was planted in 1994 is almost 30ft tall. It is growing in ideal conditions and shot up like a rocket to 20ft then slowed down.

There are some growing at Disney's Polynesian resort , planted back in the mid 1980s and are only about 30ft tall, same at Epcot. There are some tall Livistona (various species) at Fairchild but they were planted decades ago. We have some tall (40-50ft) Livistona chinensis in the woods here at Leu Gardens but there were planted sometime prior to 1960 when the property was still Mr. Leu's estate. Livistona chinensis grows super fast in the shade until it gets 15-20ft then greatly slows down.

 

[Sandy Loam]

Thanks Eric.

Does anyone else have knowledge of the tallest species of livistona?

 

[redbeard917]

http://www.pacsoa.org.au/wiki/Livistona_nitida

According to this link, Livistona nitida grows to 100 feet.

[Sandy Loam]

Redbeard, I read that PACSOA link and found another one on Livistona Mariae at the same site.  It says that there is natural habitat in Australia where the Mariae are 65 metres tall. That's double the maximum height of Nitida. The PACSOA site explained that growth rate and height depended on the availability of water beneath the root system, at least for Mariae.

[Josh-O]

cool thread

[Sandy Loam]

Yeah, it makes me wonder if the future of LA should be Livistona Mariae lining the streets of LA instead of Washingtonia Robusta.  Livistona Mariae, if like other Livistona, are not susceptible to the pests/fungus/wilt, they grow just as tall as washingtonia robusta, they supposedly grow quite quickly, and they are quite drought-tolerant....and they are as cold-hardy too. Perfect!

[DoomsDave]

My experience has been that even the most drought tolerant Livistona don't even come close to Washies, not by an Outback Kilometer.

[Pal Meir]

This Livistona nitida in Carnarvon Gorge (1979) looked to me much taller than 30 m:

[Phoenikakias]

Agree with Mr DD

[Pal Meir]

On 18.2.2016, 00:49:13, Sandy Loam said:

Redbeard, I read that PACSOA link and found another one on Livistona Mariae at the same site.  It says that there is natural habitat in Australia where the Mariae are 65 metres tall. That's double the maximum height of Nitida. The PACSOA site explained that growth rate and height depended on the availability of water beneath the root system, at least for Mariae.

L. mariae 65 m ??? I can’t find such info here: http://www.pacsoa.org.au/wiki/Livistona_mariae

»The tallest palms in the valley have reached a height of 25 m. «

[DoomsDave]

33 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

Agree with Mr DD

While they inhabit really harsh landscapes, the Livvies lurk in the riverbeds. Even when the river isn't flowing there's water underground within reach of roots.

[Pal Meir]

This was the tallest L. mariae I’ve ever seen (Singapore BG 1978-01-01), maybe 25 m or so, but signicantly smaller than the L. nitida in Carnarvon Gorge:

[Sandy Loam]

I stand corrected. I see the "25 metres" remark in the PACSOA link about Livistona Mariae. I don't know where I got the 65 metres from. 

Livistona Nitida could be the tallest Livistona --- at least among those in cultivation over here.

 

[DoomsDave]

Washies (if anyone cares) will hit 125+ feet (42+ M) before they finally go toten, muerte, dead. Robustas especially.

Still, those Livvies are awesome!

[Pal Meir]

I found this in Palmpedia for L. saribus: »Trunk to 40 m tall, 15-65 cm in diameter« So it seems that it can become even taller than L. nitida …

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Livistona_saribus

[Sandy Loam]

I just found this article on several Livistonas by PalmBob:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1239/

Yes, Saribus seems to be one of the tallest and, in tropical climates (not in Mediterranean climates), is supposedly quite fast growing.  Mariae is listed as only a moderately fast grower. Nitida and Rotundiafolia (aka. Robinsoniana) are listed as tall and quite fast-growing (Nitida is fast in Mediterranean climate whereas Rotundifolia is fast in a tropical clilmate).

 

 

 

[Sandy Loam]

.....and, to my surprise, PalmBob lists Livistona Mariae as only a moderately fast grower in his article (link above).