Oldest Beccariophoenix alfredii in cultivation - 4 feet of trunk

[Zeeth 2,452]

I'm in West Palm for an interview so I wanted to stop by Pete Balasky's Beccariophoenix alfredii on the way. It's doing well! It's got 4 feet of trunk now, and the trunk is a bit over 60 inches in circumference at 4 feet. Shouldn't be long until it starts flowering. Here are pics:

 

 

The rope on the tree is holding up the Copernicia macroglossa nearby that's leaning away.

[kinzyjr 5,765]

Dude, that is one awesome alfie!  Thanks for sharing!

[quaman58 2,436]

Boy, those are big palms..

[quaman58 2,436]

Also, a lot nicer looking once they get some trunk IMO. NOW, they actually start looking like a coconut. Very cool.

[Eric in Orlando 4,877]

That is great !!!

[Reeverse 833]

Is this the Largest in cultivation? Its massive. 

[LJG 1,317]

On 11/30/2018 at 4:10 PM, Reeverse said:

Is this the Largest in cultivation? Its massive. 

I’ve have never seen one bigger. Things huge and looks awesome.

Its not *the* oldest one in cultivation. Semantics.  It came from the first seed batch. I have a sister palm I bought from Peter that was from the seed batch. 

[Stevetoad 2,024]

Awesome!!! looks like Im going to be removing a brahea after seeing the size of this monkey...

[Josue Diaz 3,246]

Very cool! That trunk has some serious bulging at the base! Looks like it's almost half as thick up top compared to the base. 

[Matt in OC 1,222]

How old is it?

[Zeeth 2,452]

2 minutes ago, LJG said:

I’ve have never seen one bigger. Things huge and looks awesome.

Its not *the* oldest one in cultivation. Semantics. It came from the first seed batch. I have a sister palm I bought from Peter that was from the seed batch. 

I won't argue with you there, but it does make for a catchy title!  

I'm glad that they're starting to get some size to them in cultivation. I agree with Bret that they start looking a lot more coconutty once they've got some trunk. The trunk even has a nice taper to it like a coconut does.

[Zeeth 2,452]

7 minutes ago, Matt in OC said:

How old is it?

14 years

[PalmTreeDude 1,861]

Dang, once these really catch on 9b areas are going to start looking like a true jungle. Awesome palm! 

Edited December 1, 2018 by PalmTreeDude

[RedRabbit 2,033]

Wow, very impressive specimen! Thanks for sharing Zeeth! 

How'd the interview go?

[DoomsDave 10,344]

 

All the jokes aside, that alfie rocks, and @LJGand I can agree on that much!

Mama mia . . .

[BS Man about Palms 2,512]

Haha.. I saw the title and thought "wait whos got one older than Petes?"......Len?  

[LJG 1,317]

2 hours ago, Zeeth said:

I won't argue with you there, but it does make for a catchy title!  

I'm glad that they're starting to get some size to them in cultivation. I agree with Bret that they start looking a lot more coconutty once they've got some trunk. The trunk even has a nice taper to it like a coconut does.

by the way, did you ask if he had to clean the trunk or if the leaf bases just started to fall off? 

[Palm Tree Jim 1,185]

14 hours ago, LJG said:

I’ve have never seen one bigger. Things huge and looks awesome.

Its not *the* oldest one in cultivation. Semantics. It came from the first seed batch. I have a sister palm I bought from Peter that was from the seed batch. 

I agree....Len is very old.

[Hammer 657]

I misread this post at first.  Thought it said 60 inch diameter at 4 feet.  Not 60 inch circumference.   Had me in a full panic and ready to break out the chainsaws to remove a couple potentially poorly placed ones in my yard.  Whew!  Not cutting today.

Great looking palm.  Thanks for sharing. 

 

[Alicehunter2000 754]

A mongo sized coconut!

[Zeeth 2,452]

18 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

Wow, very impressive specimen! Thanks for sharing Zeeth! 

How'd the interview go?

I think it went okay! I don't find out where I'm going until January though.

17 hours ago, LJG said:

by the way, did you ask if he had to clean the trunk or if the leaf bases just started to fall off? 

I didn't ask, but there was some damage on the trunk in 2 spots that looks like the bases were pulled off prematurely, so I think someone cleaned it up at some point.

 

5 hours ago, Hammer said:

I misread this post at first.  Thought it said 60 inch diameter at 4 feet.  Not 60 inch circumference.   Had me in a full panic and ready to break out the chainsaws to remove a couple potentially poorly placed ones in my yard.  Whew!  Not cutting today.

Great looking palm.  Thanks for sharing. 

I actually had the idea to take the tape measure out there from a post you made a while back, so I'm glad you found it helpful!

[Tyrone 2,856]

22 hours ago, Zeeth said:

14 years

Amazing size to these from seed in 2004 then. My oldest alfrediis came from a 2005 seed batch but they are nowhere near as large having sat in pots for wayyyy too long, so I'd say I will need to wait another 10 years to get some trunk on mine. 

This species is just perfect for areas too cold for coconuts.

[DoomsDave 10,344]

4 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Amazing size to these from seed in 2004 then. My oldest alfrediis came from a 2005 seed batch but they are nowhere near as large having sat in pots for wayyyy too long, so I'd say I will need to wait another 10 years to get some trunk on mine. 

This species is just perfect for areas too cold for coconuts.

Scripture, that!

[palmfriend 2,103]

Beautiful!!

Thank you for posting!

Best regards -

Lars

 

[Moose 1,506]

That's 14 years growing in South Florida conditions. They may take longer in different climates

[ruskinPalms 934]

That thing is incredible but seems at least as slow as CIDP at getting trunk. But again, very beautiful!

Edited December 10, 2018 by ruskinPalms

[Merlyn 2,409]

I'm okay with them being slow to trunk, as long as they grow those 20ft long fronds fast!   I have 5 planted that are about 6-7' tall from 5G pots this summer.  It took them about a month to "root in" but put out 2-4 fronds each from August - November.  They have all slowed down around late November when temps went from 80s/60s down to 70s/50s, but are still growing a couple of inches/week on the spears.

Given the size of that monster I may need to move one of mine.  I planted two of them about 10 feet apart, expecting the fronds to "somewhat intermingle," but the photos look like they'll start drooping more than I expected.  I was thinking 20 foot fronds but held mostly vertical like an Attalea Cohune or Arenga Pinnata.  Those pictures look more like 30-40 foot diameter per palm!  Yikes!  

[redant 1,612]

I love these but my Beccariophoenix fenestralis make my alfredii look like little punks

 

[DCA_Palm_Fan 631]

That is one awesome palm!   The girth on that thing is pretty fantastic too.  Looks amazing!  I gotta say though, that is some pretty slow growth. I def agree it looks to be CIDP slow.   Thanks for posting!    (side note)  I was down in your hood probably back in august and thought  that since were practically neighbors now that we gotta have a beer sometime! haha! 

[GottmitAlex 3,953]

Quite so. Quite so. The B.alfredii grows as stagnant as a CIDP, however it looks (after a decade) like a coconut. Even after 14-16+ years , (this is fact folks), no alfie outside of habitat has produced seed. The book is still being written on this precious palm. For all we know, it's a prehistoric palm and it might take several decades for it to seed.  Personally, seed or not, I love its look. Even if it takes 1/3 of the speed to grow of that of a Cocos nucifera. The Alfie is one notch hardier.

[redant 1,612]

My biggest alfrediis

[redant 1,612]

My biggest fenestralis, the trunk on this is massive, royal palm type of big.

Edited December 11, 2018 by redant

[Matt in OC 1,222]

WOW @redant. How old is that?

[sonoranfans 2,931]

When I go back and look at the pic of petes palm, it appears to be very wide of crown, 25-30' even.  My Bismarckias are only ~25' wide.  Alfrediis may start small and slow, but they get huge!

[redant 1,612]

Matt the fenestralis is about 10 years from a 3 gallon. All my yard is pretty shady so everything grows a bit slower and a bit elongated. I have about 4 others as well, love all the Beccariophoenix , probably my favorite species after coconuts.

 

[necturus 568]

Makes you wonder how tough a mature palm would be... seems like a trunk that massive could take some cold.

[Sandy Loam 342]

On 12/10/2018, 6:20:54, redant said:

I love these but my Beccariophoenix fenestralis make my alfredii look like little punks

 

That 14-year old Beccariophoenix Alfredii in Zeeth 's photos of gorgeous, but when compared with the 15-year old Beccariophoenix Fenestralis in the photo below (which one can clearly walk/stand underneath), it seems to have a lot less trunk:

Is Beccariophoenix Fenestralis simply much faster-growing than Beccariophoenix Alfredii?

 

[Sandy Loam 342]

(Continued...)    In the caption beside the large Beccariophoenix Fenestralis next to the red house, the owner wrote: "Here is one growing in our nursery.... 15 years since planting and it's been fruiting for about 4 years.". That is almost the same age as the Beccariophoenix Alfredii in Zeeth's photos above.

[Alicante 433]

On 11/12/2018 19:16:22, redant said:

My biggest alfrediis

Beautiful palms you got there. 

[Merlyn 2,409]

On 1/6/2019, 1:19:46, Sandy Loam said:

Is Beccariophoenix Fenestralis simply much faster-growing than Beccariophoenix Alfredii?   (Continued...)    In the caption beside the large Beccariophoenix Fenestralis next to the red house, the owner wrote: "Here is one growing in our nursery.... 15 years since planting and it's been fruiting for about 4 years.". That is almost the same age as the Beccariophoenix Alfredii in Zeeth's photos above.

 

It sure looks like Kennybenjamin's fenestralis has about 4' more trunk than the alfredii in the original post.  It was my understanding that the alfredii was a faster grower, and that the fenestralis was fairly slow.  But that may have been from reading about people growing them in marginal climates, without the benefit of heat and humidity.  We also don't know how old Kennybenjamin's palm was when it was planted.  It would make a big difference if it were planted 15 years ago as a 10' OA palm instead of a seedling...