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Simply Juania Australis

My Belgian friend Michel Lancel tells me that the Chinese buy the seeds (coquitos) of Jubaea chilensis. They eat them in soup and sell them in China. They're highly coveted. My friend tells me that the Chinese buy up to 70 tons of coquitos. They ship them in shipping containers. Each container carries 20 tons of coquitos. And he tells me that one meter of Jubaea chilensis costs 2,000 euros. Imagine, Mr. John and Mr. Sancho, how the world of palm trees works. And exclusively for Jubaea chilensis. Below I'm sharing photos my friend sent me.

Australis is Latin for south or southern: Terra Australis = Southern land, which ultimately became Australia.

This macrocarpa at first threw out red leaves. Now for the past 10 years no red leaf, it slowly began to lose its colourful leaves over time and now just a green leaf. It’s a mystery to me. So what’s going on is it something that always happens? Or just a mutant!

Hey all, I got a couple seedlings from my nephew, about 4 years back. He works at a local nursery here and these were allegedly some type of Adonidia cross, probably with Veitchia. Anyway, both plants are growing well, but look rather different from each other, especially on the stems and petioles. I tortured this one in a pot for a bit over a year, but after putting in the ground a year or so ago, it’s beginning to recover nicely. The cool winters here don’t seem to phase them really at all. So my question is, does anyone recognize this particular plant as a possible species of Veitchia? I’m currently growing arecina, joannis and spiralis, but this appears different, especially the stem. Or has it just got quirky features of a hybrid? Thanks for looking!

I paid dearly for this one, 20 years ago

If I buy plants and they show up via UPS it's fancy. I can't imagine how much it costs to put anything that big - let alone several of them - in shipping containers and send them halfway around the world. The prep work alone is worth more than every plant I own and probably every car I've ever owned and maybe even one of the houses I've lived in combined.

Mass shipment of Jubaeas chilensis to Europe. Container shipping by ship. Courtesy of my Belgian friend Michel Lancel.

Lepidozamia peroffskyana with a Pinanga coronata.

A few updated pictures from Pearland

A Caryota of some species, and I would say the dead dying kind of varietie.

That's right, my friend. It's a majestic palm tree. The wisest eyes will know how to value it and elevate it as something unique and elevated.

Jubaea chilensis - a gorgeous palm that few are able to grow in Florida. @Scott W has one coming along pretty well, but they are a difficult grow here to say the least.

I had not walked on this street recently until this morning. As my dog and I walked by, It was a Reunion of sorts... a Hyophorbe verschaffeltii.

I wanted to start this thread to document myself and others’ plants so post if you got em. There wasn’t that many produced but they are out there. The “Lady Luck” Palm is a cross between Wodyetia Bifurcata x Veitchia Winin so the cousin to the well known Foxy Lady hybrid. I got the plant from Seabreeze / @Josh-O as a 1G a few years back and it’s the first time it was produced. Admittedly I did not plant it out for well over a year but this summer it has grown great and seems to be catching up for lost time. Ideal location in morning sun, watered and fed regularly. Here’s a few old pics along its journey as well as a recent. First pic planted out March 2024. Lets see em. -dale

The tough old cabbage palm. They can endure such harsh conditions. Tolerate of drought conditions once established, even surviving bush fires. These ones are planted in a rather dry location as pioneer palms, they will get irrigation later on but hand waterings for now. There’s a couple of ones I planted a couple of months back that are doing well.

An underwatered Archontophoenix alexandrae. Poor thing. These palms look so fantastic when they get the water they need.

Archontophoenix alexandrae

A big thank you to everyone who made the meeting a success. Even with a few folks canceling for various reasons, attendance exceeded the number on the RSVP list and was probably an all-time record. We had two former IPS Presidents there to address the group about the benefits of IPS membership and attending the IPS tours and four different vendors offering unique palms and palm companion plants for sale with availability and prices big box stores can't touch. The attendees spanned an area from south Georgia to Key West and all points in-between. As we continue to adapt as a society, this is a sign that we're on track. A few photos and a video from the host of the first site and his daughter-in-law are shared below: Board Member Introduction Team Photos (2) Host Intro Video Tour https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MYJKORTvc5Mi52Z_4kTVhwMoiFlHDuRH/view?usp=sharing A special shout to the following attendees who also contribute on PalmTalk: @kinzyjr@PalmJuan@Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)@Fishinsteeg234@chuckg@SW_FL_Palms@carlosinkw@SubTropicRay@Midnight Gardener@RiverCityRichard@flplantguy@Plantking165@Keybmp@Scott W@howfam@PalmBossTampa@D. Morrowii@MikeB@Maddox Gardening-youtube@rick If we missed you, don't be too shy to pop in and say hello. If you have photos from the meeting, please post them here. Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, December 6th, 2025 at The Garden of Rob Branch in Sarasota, FL. More details to follow momentarily.

My Latania caught my eye today

It definitely looks like an Adonidia x Veitchia. Aka 'California Christmas palm'. If Phil got the seeds from FL, they probably came from me. You have a very nice specimen there.. Not all of them turned out that nice...esp in CA. JD

I was about to buy a large Jubaea palm tree five years ago. I wanted to show off and look like the rich. The problem was I had to invest my money in another project. I think I'll buy the largest Jubaea palm tree later. It's a logistics and transportation task to bring it to southern Chile using high-tonnage equipment. Trucks, cranes, and more cranes. Your Jubaea palm trees are waiting for you, even if it's just a few coconuts in your soup.

This is one of the most expensive palm trees in the world. RPS sells seedlings for very high prices. And it's also one of their number one and favorite palm trees. RPS sells them as if they were selling them from Chile. In Europe, they pay an enormous amount for a specimen. It's crazy.

They are dead easy to grow here at a similar latitude to habitat. Im surprised they go ok with almost no root mass.

This palm tree is a trophy. It's highly sought after by collectors, especially in Europe. This palm tree is native to Chile, from Robinson Crusoe Island (Juán Fernández Archipelago).

Chunnighamiana trunk colour 😍

Guiusepe, my friend, there are quite a few Jubaeas chilensis here in Chile. Now they sell seeds and palm trees of all sizes everywhere. Massively. Unlike the other Chilean palm, Juania australis, its sale and commercialization are prohibited. It's a very private palm tree, so access to it is not possible.

We all love our Ernie’s here in palm land. So why not a little group of say ten for of a bit of seed production, along with getting the garden a bit more tropical looking. No special treatment with this lot bring out the pick axe for this planting. Theres usually a reason why theres a gap in the garden, the reason is rocks and lots of them, so wherever I could drive the pick axe in that’s where they got planted. A thin layer of well composted mulch almost like rainforest soil. All I have to do is water and lots of it. So this little group shall be called gyuseppes patch!

Anemic Archontophoenix as others have said. *headed out to water mine now…..* -dale

Wonderful work, Hugo. I just showed it to Sabine, but at the same time I had to tell her that it's rather difficult to grow here. She just smiled and said, “What have we been doing all this time...?”Well, I didn't have an answer to that...

Great photos, my friend Hugo. Somehow, they make me want to eat and then grow seeds... Both are wonderful things, so let's get started 🤗 One advantage for me is that I can eat a lot without gaining weight... except that I naturally feel sick if I overdo it 🤔😁

That many seeds you could flood the market and be the Jubea king around the world. Richard

Holy Jubea seeds Batman! Way to go looking good, germinating all those seeds makes my setup look like a kindergarten school bean project!

Var viridis. I got some seed of one which has green new leaf, very wide leaflets and extreme watermelon markings so take your pick which box that belongs in!

Man, that is some serious money right there. That's 6 figures all day.

There a dime a dozen in my area, most collectors have them and the golden canes corner the market, you just cannot convince people they are much better than golden canes. Seeds will be available soon!

Nice work Hugo! 😊 I hope you can keep them growing well and plant all of them locally. Hard to find suitable locations outside of habitat where they will thrive. I've always thought it interesting that the species name is australis - sounds like it's native to Australia instead of Chile.

A nice yellow chamaedorea adscendens flower gets my attention.

New new leaves on some young Livistona saribus caught my eye. Some are in the shade and one is colored from the sunshine.

With a lot of my new plantings done in winter their looking good and tucked in for spring. With all the recent rainfall, it has paid of planting in winter. Their taking the warm weather well. So theres a lot to be said about planting in the cool weather.

😍 And they're eating it's babies. Shame.

I repotted it. I mean this little pot is like a bandaid on a shotgun wound, but I could honestly hear the plastic bottle cracking in the night from the roots. This picture really doesn't show just how freaking wide this thing is.

Yer I had a look it’s still alive next to my marojejya darinii, such a shame it’s still alive 🤣

A heavy frost at 32°F to 37°F will often do quite a bit of damage to the fronds so these palms are best situated under taller trees which act as a “roof” preventing frost from forming on the leaves in colder climates such as yours. 24° with frost is a death sentence. A dryer 24°F is survivable with more mature King palms.

I dunno about the greenhouse, it's easy enough to grow with LEDs and a mister bottle. Ask me how I know 😂 The clip on LED grow lights are usually worthless, Sansi has some that have actual real replaceable bulbs. Other than that I'd find a shelf and hang the biggest reputable lights you can afford and fit. I've got both tubes and pendant cords with bulbs and both work pretty good.

Thanks for the Latin lesson Jonathan! 😁 I always thought that Livistona australis was native to Australia - oh wait, it is! By that logic I assume that it's from southern Australia and that's the reason for the species name.

It's hard to believe that Foxtail Palms were once $5/seed. Now if you live in the right spots and want Wodyetia bifurcata seeds, you just walk down the street with a box and gather hundreds of them.

@jwitt I’ve definitely got enough to share. The mother is probably 25’ tall or so and the trunk diameter is 2.5-3’ at the bottom I would say. Not sure on age but I would guess somewhere between 20 and 30 years? The coldest extremes I’m sure it has seen is 2021 where it saw -2 F and 8-9 days below freezing. I don’t believe it’s ever been protected. If you want some seeds just message me an address to send them to. I don’t have a greenhouse to start a bunch of seedlings unfortunately. This is just an enjoyable hobby to me and yes spread the west Texas love!

Quercus grisea in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.