Bought this on clearance today

[Jtee]

I think it’s a Mule palm or a queen but not too sure because I’ve never seen a mule palm this small at a big box store and it’s labeled Washingtonian which we know it’s not. 
 

maybe someone returned it and put it in a different plastic pot. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Jtee

[Jtee]

It appears to be a baby brother to my mule palm, they look identical as far as my eyes can see. 

[Jtee]

[Fusca]

A little hard to tell at this stage but I think it's more likely a queen (Syagrus romanzoffiana).  I don't see any "thorns" at the petiole bases that mules get from the Butia parent.  Here is a 3-gal mule I got from Erik this year to compare.  Difficult to see but the "thorns" are on the left.  I hope yours turns out to be a mule but I haven't seen 3-gal size mules offered at big box stores - at least not here in Texas.

 

[JLM]

Dang man, all i found on clearance down here was small majesties 

[Jtee]

I really hope it isn’t a Queen palm but if it is I’ve spent $10 on crappy junk food so that’s how I’ll justify this purchase.  My neighbor has several Queen palms that seem to make it through winter just fine but I know it’s not a long term palm. But hey even if I get 10 years out of it it will be worth it. 

[RJ]

Looks like a mule to me. 

[Jtee]

2 hours ago, RJ said:

Looks like a mule to me. 

Right, I scanned the pic on the internet and what popped up was mule palms so I’m hope that’s right. 

[Scott W]

This is a mule that was at my local Lowe's with a $150 price tag.  I would expect even a smaller sized one to have a higher price tag, but I guess it's possible someone wrongly priced it.  Even two strap liner seedlings sell in the $15 to 20 range.

With that I seem to recall mules typically don't receive the armament trait from the Butia, at least my Dr Wilcox mule, both Frank Lewis' mule and super mule all have smooth petioles.  I think what @Fusca is seeing as thorns is just the harder remnants of the webbing (or whatever it's called) at the petiole base.

Butia petiole

Mule petiole

Super Mule petiole

[Jtee]

1 hour ago, Scott W said:

This is a mule that was at my local Lowe's with a $150 price tag.  I would expect even a smaller sized one to have a higher price tag, but I guess it's possible someone wrongly priced it.  Even two strap liner seedlings sell in the $15 to 20 range.

With that I seem to recall mules typically don't receive the armament trait from the Butia, at least my Dr Wilcox mule, both Frank Lewis' mule and super mule all have smooth petioles.  I think what @Fusca is seeing as thorns is just the harder remnants of the webbing (or whatever it's called) at the petiole base.

Butia petiole

Mule petiole

Super Mule petiole

I purchased this big boy at Lowe’s this past February on clearance. It was $150 but I got it for 60% off. It was the only time I had ever seen a mule at a big box store. And it was still winter time. 
 

this little one I posted about was labeled a Washingtonia and was missing soil. It looks like someone had maybe returned it and threw it in that pot because it had a bar code on it. That’s my guess. I check Lowe’s all the time for palms and they have not hand any mules all year and some queens once in a while. 

[Scott W]

2 hours ago, Jtee said:

I purchased this big boy at Lowe’s this past February on clearance. It was $150 but I got it for 60% off. It was the only time I had ever seen a mule at a big box store. And it was still winter time. 
 

this little one I posted about was labeled a Washingtonia and was missing soil. It looks like someone had maybe returned it and threw it in that pot because it had a bar code on it. That’s my guess. I check Lowe’s all the time for palms and they have not hand any mules all year and some queens once in a while. 

 

60% off is outstanding!  Hopefully it was mislabeled and it is a mule.  Guess time will tell....