145 Year Old Butia

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

At a nursery here in Myrtle Beach - was transplanted from Florida some time last year.  The picture doesn't do it justice, this thing is a monster.  Price tag on it is in the $10k ballpark 

[PalmatierMeg 7,331]

Oh my. Beautiful old palm with a hefty price tag. Hope it finds a new home and survives another 100 years.

[Palmarum 2,766]

Wowness,

If Palms could talk, what stories could he tell.

[Dartolution 945]

How did they determine its age? Im curious.

[GottmitAlex 3,765]

I presume butias are slow growers.

[Meangreen94z 1,647]

I would believe 45 years old in the ideal climate of Florida, not sure on 145. Who was planting South American palms in Florida in 1875? We have similar size or bigger locally in the 30-50 year range. I could be wrong, just my opinion.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Meangreen94z

[Turtlesteve 166]

Yeah I'm not buying 145 years either, but it's still a nice palm.

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

Age information came from whoever they bought it from in Florida so I'm not sure how accurate it is. 

Florida is a vastly different growing climate from us but it's easily twice as big as anything grown locally - height and trunk diameter.

[Meangreen94z 1,647]

It’s a beautiful Butia regardless, nice straight trunk for its size.

[NCFM 469]

8 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

At a nursery here in Myrtle Beach - was transplanted from Florida some time last year.  The picture doesn't do it justice, this thing is a monster.  Price tag on it is in the $10k ballpark 

Wow, that is one huge butia. Probably the biggest I've ever seen

[Laaz 1,515]

I would call BS too...

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

Next time I get over there I'll see if I can get more info on the tree's background and some better pics showing its overall size. They did say that this was supposedly the oldest butia in Florida which also sounds like it could be a fabrication. Unfortunately I can only go off what they're saying and hope that the story hasn't been tweaked too much. 

[Fusca 2,874]

17 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

Price tag on it is in the $10k ballpark 

145 year old claim is probably a sales tactic to try and justify the price.    Nice palm though.

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

28 minutes ago, Fusca said:

145 year old claim is probably a sales tactic to try and justify the price.    Nice palm though.

Yea I can def see that. They said roughly 5 grand of the tree's price is tied up in the crane and whatnot needed to move it. 

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

13 hours ago, Dartolution said:

How did they determine its age? Im curious.

The more I think about it.... prolly old Florida folklore haha

[Laaz 1,515]

There are much larger butia's all over here in Charleston.

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

1 hour ago, Laaz said:

There are much larger butia's all over here in Charleston.

It's amazing how much different Charleston is compared to here considering it's not terribly far down the coast. The largest butia here are in the 15' to maybe 20' range overall. Owner of the nursery that big boy is at says it's 30' tall. 

[Darold Petty 3,681]

Only 145 years ?   How about 434 years, documented ?  I visited this Chamaerops several years ago. 

Assuming it to be a withered remnant, I was pleasantly surprised to see it so vigorous, it fills its protective building!  I witnessed the gardeners cutting off mature stems to control the palm's volume.

http://www.ortobotanicopd.it/en/palma-di-s-pietro-chamaerops-humilis-l

 

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

5 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

Only 145 years ?   How about 434 years, documented ?  I visited this Chamaerops several years ago. 

Assuming it to be a withered remnant, I was pleasantly surprised to see it so vigorous, it fills its protective building!

http://www.ortobotanicopd.it/en/palma-di-s-pietro-chamaerops-humilis-l

 

Sweet fancy moses!

[oasis371 414]

Give me a break!  I live in the far north (NJ/Zone 7a) and this species, which I do love, grows like a weed!

Not in the least a "slow grower"..., at least not here. (I protect my three "monsters" in a loft garage from late November till late Feb/early March.)

These are my most robust, vigorous growers..., no comparison. They are nice palms and don't get the respect they deserve.

Edited December 11, 2019 by oasis371

[Darold Petty 3,681]

Yes, both Butia and Chamaerops are really solid palms! 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr 1,087]

Can we really give credit for age of a clustering palm ? I get the palm has been growing in the same spot for a long time but honestly a 145yr old Butia sounds more impressive imho

[Dartolution 945]

13 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

The more I think about it.... prolly old Florida folklore haha

within all probability. 

Why don't we have a "my palm is older than yours" thread? lol

[DAVEinMB 1,938]

10 hours ago, Dartolution said:

within all probability. 

Why don't we have a "my palm is older than yours" thread? lol

I like it, haha 

Well I have the oldest palmetto in north America in my back yard so 

[kinzyjr 5,461]

Not sold on the age, but if they need a place to plant it because it won't sell, I have a space open  

[Pal Meir 5,471]

18 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Only 145 years ?   How about 434 years, documented ?  I visited this Chamaerops several years ago. 

Assuming it to be a withered remnant, I was pleasantly surprised to see it so vigorous, it fills its protective building!  I witnessed the gardeners cutting off mature stems to control the palm's volume.

http://www.ortobotanicopd.it/en/palma-di-s-pietro-chamaerops-humilis-l

 

When I was visiting Padova in 1985 Goethe’s Palm was only 400 yr old since planting:

 

And this Jubaea at Kew’s in 1986 only 140 yr (killed a couple years ago by Goofies):

[Cikas 442]

More like 40-50 years old. Definitely not 145 years old. Too small for that age. 

[Jungle Jas. 16]

On 12/12/2019 at 3:09 PM, Pal Meir said:

When I was visiting Padova in 1985 Goethe’s Palm was only 400 yr old since planting:

 

And this Jubaea at Kew’s in 1986 only 140 yr (killed a couple years ago by Goofies):

Not goofies I'm afraid, just morons. It should have been transplanted.

[Merlyn 2,058]

I'd be really surprised that a Florida-grown Butia of that size was 145 years old.  There's another thread here about ancient Butia in FL, with some much bigger trees that are clearly not that old.

 

[JLM 1,170]

On 12/10/2019 at 5:58 PM, Palmarum said:

Wowness,

If Palms could talk, what stories could he tell.

Im sure hurricanes would be mentioned lol

[Jcalvin 247]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 1:11 PM, Laaz said:

There are much larger butia's all over here in Charleston.

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/60992-old-butia/

 

 

Scan down. I posted some Butias from around here. Most people are moving on to CIPD's, Dactlifera and other date palms down here in SE Georgia. Besides the natural growing Sabal Palms, I think Butia was once the go-to, designer, pinnate palm in the SE around the turn of the 20th century.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Jcalvin

[ErikSJI 305]

Is there another nursery in Florida that was importing palms before the reasoner brothers? Royal palm nurseries. They started in 1880s.  I have seen much larger butias then that around 60yr old.