Jump to content
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT LOGGING IN ×
  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

Nice little surprise


DAVEinMB

Recommended Posts

This guy was my first mule and arguably has been the most unhappy. Back to back winters I had to treat crown fungal issues that resulted in partial spear pull and since being planted it has never grown at the pace of my others. By a long shot. But low and behold it's the first to shoot out a spathe. 

20210826_215314.jpg

20210826_215353.jpg

20210826_215452.jpg

  • Like 12
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems like once they start throwing out spathes, they never stop.

My large one is in a nearly constant state of bloom.  I have tried hand pollenating with Butia pollen to get a backcross (BXS)xB),  but have only got 2 fruits to set so far.  However, the seeds from the fruits that set were not viable.

It is next to my driveway, and there is a non stop pile of dropped male and female flowers under it.  Better that than mountains of fruit I suppose.

The bees, wasps, and flies do really love the flowers it puts out.

This year I tried just cutting off Butia flower spathes shedding pollen (the reddish one with male flowers in the pic) and sticking them into the mule when the female flowers were opening.

I was hoping the bees would do their jobs and cross pollenate for me.  I did not have any better luck with getting fruits to form....   

Maybe someday, I will get a freak viable seed from the mule.  From what I read, it is not impossible, just improbable. 

20210720_154553.thumb.jpg.e9e79d6d3ff70fb740c05e137583f8a8.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Joe NC said:

It seems like once they start throwing out spathes, they never stop.

My large one is in a nearly constant state of bloom.  I have tried hand pollenating with Butia pollen to get a backcross (BXS)xB),  but have only got 2 fruits to set so far.  However, the seeds from the fruits that set were not viable.

This year I tried just cutting off Butia flower spathes shedding pollen (the reddish one with male flowers in the pic) and sticking them into the mule when the female flowers were opening.

I was hoping the bees would do their jobs and cross pollenate for me.  I did not have any better luck with getting fruits to form....   

Maybe someday, I will get a freak viable seed from the mule.  From what I read, it is not impossible, just improbable. 

From my reading, it's the female flower that is sterile, so your odds of getting any viable seed from pollinating the Mule are slim to none.

However, the male pollen from the Mule is said to be viable, so you can use that to backcross to another Butia, other palm that takes Butia pollen or even maybe another hybrid, as referenced here: Dr. Frankenstein's Palms

That being said, I did germinate some seed given to me from a local hybridizer that were labeled as Butiagrus X Jubutia F3, with both parent trees originally coming from Merrill Wilcox.   So putting hybrid pollen back to the mule was successful, though only three have germinated to date, and thus maybe there is a small chance of being able to get as you said that freak viable seed.

Mind you I have zero experience in palm hybridizing, but I've been doing Cycas hybrids for a few years now.  With that, I've been doing tons of research and observations, and my plan is to be producing my own Butia and Syagrus hybrids next year....  :D

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Joe NC @Scott W there are a good bit of fruiting butia in nearby yards, I don't plan on manually attempting to germinate but maybe some male pollen from mine will find its way around the neighborhood :D

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

This guy was my first mule and arguably has been the most unhappy. Back to back winters I had to treat crown fungal issues that resulted in partial spear pull and since being planted it has never grown at the pace of my others. By a long shot. But low and behold it's the first to shoot out a spathe. 

Dave, I'd be happy to get some delicious fruit - viable seed or not!  I'm still waiting on my Butia to flower that I bought as a 10-gal in 2013...maybe near defoliation our February freeze will trigger it?

Jon Sunder

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Dave, I'd be happy to get some delicious fruit - viable seed or not!  I'm still waiting on my Butia to flower that I bought as a 10-gal in 2013...maybe near defoliation our February freeze will trigger it?

I'd be happy to help with some fruit :D

I'll keep you in the loop as I see action 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/27/2021 at 9:51 AM, Joe NC said:

It seems like once they start throwing out spathes, they never stop.

My large one is in a nearly constant state of bloom.  I have tried hand pollenating with Butia pollen to get a backcross (BXS)xB),  but have only got 2 fruits to set so far.  However, the seeds from the fruits that set were not viable.

It is next to my driveway, and there is a non stop pile of dropped male and female flowers under it.  Better that than mountains of fruit I suppose.

The bees, wasps, and flies do really love the flowers it puts out.

This year I tried just cutting off Butia flower spathes shedding pollen (the reddish one with male flowers in the pic) and sticking them into the mule when the female flowers were opening.

I was hoping the bees would do their jobs and cross pollenate for me.  I did not have any better luck with getting fruits to form....   

Maybe someday, I will get a freak viable seed from the mule.  From what I read, it is not impossible, just improbable. 

20210720_154553.thumb.jpg.e9e79d6d3ff70fb740c05e137583f8a8.jpg

You must be along the coast. I'm in Raleigh and I'm SO envious of all the palms you can grow just a short distance away. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, knikfar said:

You must be along the coast. I'm in Raleigh and I'm SO envious of all the palms you can grow just a short distance away. 

In Wilmington.

However, this mule would have been very dead without some extreme protection measures in over 1/4 of the winters it has been in the ground.  Now that it is too big for all that, I'm sure it is on borrowed time.

I'm envious of all the urban trees that Raleigh has... so there is that tradeoff.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Joe NC said:

In Wilmington.

However, this mule would have been very dead without some extreme protection measures in over 1/4 of the winters it has been in the ground.  Now that it is too big for all that, I'm sure it is on borrowed time.

I'm envious of all the urban trees that Raleigh has... so there is that tradeoff.

The things we do for the love of our palms. Am I right? I have a pindo in my backyard that's probably living on borrowed time to. I just planted it this past spring. I anticipate having to protect it a few nights every year though I probably could have gotten by with no protection during the past two winters. Certainly can't rely on that though. What urban trees do we have that you don't have and/or can't have? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
1 minute ago, DAVEinMB said:

Thanks Aaron :shaka-2: beers are just a little better with palms around you

Very true, especially when it is your own garden.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely gets this from the Butia side. If it took from the Queen on flowering it would need several feet of trunk before it even tries. However, im not sure thats how hybrids work lol

Palms - 4 S. romanzoffiana, 1 W. bifurcata, 2 W. robusta, 1 R. rivularis, 1 B. odorata, 1 B. nobilis, 2 S. palmetto, 1 A. merillii, 1 P. canariensis, 1 BxJ, 1 BxJxBxS, 1 BxS, 3 P. roebelenii, 1 H. lagenicaulis, 1 H. verschaffeltii, 9 T. fortunei, 1 C. humilis, 2 C. macrocarpa, 1 L. chinensis, 1 R. excelsa

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting that it's sending up spathes so late in the year.  Certainly worth experimenting with the pollen as it's said that pollen of the mule should be viable.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...