It's not a palm that I imagine many have growing locally. I germinated some seeds recently, and found that they won't readily grow or even pop inside the greenhouse, let alone with any kind of controlled heat during germination. They are a cloud-forest dweller, but as we talk mostly about pushing the boundaries of the more tropical species in dryer climates, I wondered if anyone had any info to relate on the Andean Wax Palm, including potential, matching-climate regions.

It's not a palm that I imagine many have growing locally. I germinated some seeds recently, and found that they won't readily grow or even pop inside the greenhouse, let alone with any kind of controlled heat during germination. They are a cloud-forest dweller, but as we talk mostly about pushing the boundaries of the more tropical species in dryer climates, I wondered if anyone had any info to relate on the Andean Wax Palm, including potential, matching-climate regions.

Tim Brissy from Melbourne has germinated most of the Ceroxylons. I think he would be able to answer you on the pros and cons oif this finicky genus.

Hello John, we have this species growing outdoors at the Lakeside Palmetum in Oakland, (near San Francisco). The plant is still in the juvenile stage with no trunk. It is about 2M wide and 3M tall. It is smaller that it should be for its age, 25 years in ground , possibly due to insufficient watering. It survived -3C in 1990. No photograph in this post as I am a technophobe, and currently incompetant to post photos. (I do plan to become photo-wise soon!) I must say that C. alpinum is one of the less distinctive members of the genus.

Some general observations about the genus: I have germinated and grown C. alpinum, parvifrons, quindiuense, and vogelianum. They are all difficult as seedlings, with a high mortality rate. Young plants are quite subject to pests, including scale and various mites. They get mites even outdoors with cool temperatures and high humidity. It is also difficult to detect the mites against the silvery undersides of the foliage. The plants become stronger once past the seedling size, and plants are much more troublefree after the first few years. As juveniles, they have very little root compared to the top growth. They should be grown in a smaller container: to better control the aeration of the pot medium. I am often given sickly, mite-infested plants, and I usually re-pot them into a smaller size! One must accept a fairly high mortality rate with seedlings of this genus.

Ceroxylons are like many other genera in the sense that the plant will be small for several years and then will suddenly begin to grow a lot of trunk quickly. I have a C. parvifrons, 17 years old from seed, with about 4M of trunk. It was trunkless for 12 years and has developed all the trunk in the last 5 years.

C. echinulatum is one species that I hope will get into cultivation. The leaflets are completely pendulous, as much as a Euterpe precatoria. I saw it in habitat in 1996. This one is extremely ornamental and I would encourage others to try it!

Darold, thanks for the info on Ceroxylon. I've pretty much given up hope on growing this genus because the requirements are so contradictory to the conditions at my place. I would like to try C. quindience and C. echinulatum especially anyway. I was wondering if you had any idea what Ceroxylon this might be, growing at Dean's place in Leucadia. He should really try some at his place upslope in Kona. He's practically in the cloud forest up there. I bet they'd love it.

the top

Darold,

Thank you for your informative response. As I really wanted to find out where Ceroxylon is growing outside of the Andes, I'm encouraged to hear that exists in a climate similar to our own here in southern Spain. The PACSOA website references C. ventricosum growing in Ventura, California, with the most amazing-looking trunk, so it is possible to grow fine, mature specimens in a dry environment, when all the recommendations are for cool, humid and moist conditions. Here is the PACSOA link for interest: Ceroxylon ventricosum. It certainly makes C. alpinum look a little indistinct, as you rightly say.

I've germinated C. alpinum along with amazonicum, parvum, quindiuense, ventricosum and vogelianum, and my experience matches Darold's. They have a very high germination rate, only a few out of 120 did not germinate, but they have a high mortality rate in the first couple of years. I only have a few of each species, about 6 parvum being the most left, and I think I only have 1 vogelianum left. My largest alpinum (thanks Adam) is now in the ground, fully pinnate and about 2 feet tall. Judging by this one, alpinum becomes less touchy the older it is, and accelerates growth as well.

J in A:

They will grow in a Mediterranean climate. I've had a bunch in my backyard as little babies, though I have to say they're not an easy grow.

I've found C. quin- to be easier in pots, but deathly in the ground in my coastal-inland heat and clay soil.

There are some large C. quin- s up at the Big H (Huntington) still in the trees, no trunk, leaves about 10 m (30') long.

Whaddya got to lose by trying some?

John,

these pics of C.quindiuence were taken at Dick ENDT's property in Auckland, NZ about 3 or 4 years ago. I understand that they have grown a lot since then.

I am growing quindiuence. alpinum, ventricosumn and am finding them very slow. Also have had very high death rates with all species as young plants.

I planted two parvum in the ground some 10 years ago as 7 or 8 year old plants...they are still not very big but I think the dryer conditions where I have them planted is not helping...

Some parts of NZ would be ideal for growing Ceroxylons...

regards...Malcolm

Ceroxylons are tricky as seedlings so I do it the easyway(for me) just plant little seedlings in a shady spot, one might die the other one will probably make it.

Past seedling stage they will be easier though I lost a large C.ventricosum to rot because of overwatering in summer, their growing point is below soil level for a long long time and phytophora strikes readily, since then I do not water trunkless specimens that much in summer.

First picture shows the typical leaf arrangement of C.ventricosum alas RIP at 2 meter in 2003

Second picture is C.quindiuense in 2003 it is about 3 m high.

Seedlings in the ground in my Med.climate are C.amazonicum(doing well) and C.echinatum(doing so so)

these pics of C.quindiuence were taken at Dick ENDT's property in Auckland, NZ about 3 or 4 years ago. I understand

Heres what they look like now Malcolm.

Photo taken at the 25th Anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

Ceroxylons are tricky as seedlings so I do it the easyway(for me) just plant little seedlings in a shady spot, one might die the other one will probably make it.

Past seedling stage they will be easier though I lost a large C.ventricosum to rot because of overwatering in summer, their growing point is below soil level for a long long time and phytophora strikes readily, since then I do not water trunkless specimens that much in summer.

First picture shows the typical leaf arrangement of C.ventricosum alas RIP at 2 meter in 2003

Second picture is C.quindiuense in 2003 it is about 3 m high.

Seedlings in the ground in my Med.climate are C.amazonicum(doing well) and C.echinatum(doing so so)

Charles, have you noticed that C. echinulatum leaves get burned easily in hot sun? I foolishly took a couple of pots of small plants from shade into half-day sun, and they suffered. C. amazonicum doesn't seem to mind what is thrown at it. C. parvum is also very tough. C. vogelianum seedlings rot easily and unexpectedly -- mostly in summer.

Jason

There is a Ceroxylon alpinum growing at Sea World in San Diego. I've seen it regularly for the last few years and it is growing, but not particularly quickly. I would say the leaves are about 10 feet long (3 meters) now, and the petiols are pretty stout, but it's obviously no where near trunking. It is basically at sea level, in a fairly cool climate with summer highs ~75 F and winter highs ~65 F on average. It's in full sun. Honestly, it's not a particularly attractive palm. The leaves are very vertical and the leaflets tend to get bent and fall back towards the petiole, making it look rather ratty. I don't really know how much water it gets though, or whether the soil it's in is any good.

I have a Ceroxylon quindiuense in the ground about 2 miles east of Sea World, and about 200 feet higher elevation. I'm glad I didn't know these were hard to grow since I was given this as a one leaf seedling when I first got into palms (by Steve in San Diego) about 4 years ago. I can concur that mites like these palms, it got infested a few times in my greenhouse. It also fell off my bench once and had several leaves and the emerging spear snapped. But it grew out of all of this and I planted it a couple years ago in the ground. Here's a photo from November. It's grown significantly since this photo was taken, I was actually surprised to see the date on the photo. The leaves are getting close to 3 feet long now (1 m), and are fully pinnate. This has consistently been one of my most perfect looking palms in the ground.

Those photos from Dick Endt's place are amazing. Thanks for posting.

Hello to all, I just visited our C. alpinum at Lakeside Palmetum and have a fresh mental image of it. The plant is much larger than I remembered; it is about 3 M wide and 4 M tall, with a base diameter of 30 cm. (No real trunk, just the aggregate of the leafbases)

MattyB; Dean's plant in California is very well grown and it is definitely one of the larger species.

It does not seem to conform to the PACSOA image of C. ventricosum (this is Pauleen Sullivan's plant in Ventura, Calif.)

It does not resemble the SF plants of C. quindiuense, they are bigger. My C. quindiuense has 3 M trunk with diameter of 46 cm (18 inches) and the two plants in Golden Gate Park are even larger. Also, the three SF C. quindiunense have bunched, slightly plumose leaflets. (This is contrary to the Henderson description).

It doesn't match C. vogelianum, C. parvifrons, or any of the more rare species because it is much too large, and the leaflets are regular.

It does match exactly the leaf appearance of our C. alpinum, and does match the Henderson description of the species.

"Field Guide to Palms of the Americas" by Andrew Henderson... 'C. alpinum trunk diameter about 20 cm (8 inches) with leaflets regularly arranged and horizontally spreading in the same plane, the apical ones sometimes joined '

MattyB, I would enjoy a visit to Dean's garden, perhaps we can get together sometime later this year. Also, my friend Garrin on Big Island is the Ceroxylon guru. (On this board as 'Garrin from Hawaii'). He could suggest one for Dean to try at upslope Kona.

Hello,

I unsuccessfully attempted to locate information on C. echinulatum. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Jason did you grow yours from seed? Is there still a source?

Thanks all

Dan

Here is a link to an article with a couple of Ceroxylon shots in it. Hope you dont mind Darold.

The Palms of San Francisco

Michael, thanks for posting Richard's article. One minor note, the Ceroxlyon at my home is C. parvifrons, (not parvum).

Thank you Michael, for the great link. Some good reading to be had on your website, I'll say.

In response to all the comments, it's encouraging to know that Ceroxylon will grow in my climate. Until now, I had been certain that a Mediterranean climate was a real no-no for Ceroxylons. As one of the worlds tallest palms, and if not for that amazing white trunk, Ceroxylon quindiuense is definately a palm I'd like to cultivate.

Thank you Michael, for the great link. Some good reading to be had on your website, I'll say.

In response to all the comments, it's encouraging to know that Ceroxylon will grow in my climate. Until now, I had been certain that a Mediterranean climate was a real no-no for Ceroxylons. As one of the worlds tallest palms, and if not for that amazing white trunk, Ceroxylon quindiuense is definately a palm I'd like to cultivate.

I think most of the Ceroxylon will do quite well. The only limitation IMHO is high night-time temps in summer. Where I am, we get quite a few days close to 40 deg. C, but we're generally under 15 C as a minimum at night. Only C. vogelianum seems to be a bit touchy for me.

Jason

Hello,

I unsuccessfully attempted to locate information on C. echinulatum. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Jason did you grow yours from seed? Is there still a source?

Thanks all

Dan

I found the following sources of information on C. echinulatum (there are not very many):

C. echinulatum MOBOT

C. echinulatum Palmbase

I bought mine from Jungle Music as small 5g plants. As the idiot I am, I moved them into half-day sun and burned the leaves badly. They are now pushing new, beautiful leaves. (That said, they're still not much to look at. When they get a more full set of leaves, I'll post some pics.) There were not many of these around. In fact, when I picked them up, I had no idea what they were. I just took a chance. Glad I did.

Jason

How large does the C. echinulatum eventually grow to?

They grow to around 60 feet in habitat.

They grow to around 60 feet in habitat.

Michael,

Does this variety of Ceroxylons through a huge leafs up before the trunk begins simliar to the larger C Quindense? I am trying to gage if this palm will work in my tiny 30 ft 30 ft yard.

Thanks

Dan

I have about 6 C. quindiunse, 1 c. amazonica and 2 c. parvum or parvifrons. Most are from sprouted seed that I planted directly into the ground. The only ones that haven´t survived had their roots eaten by some underground animal. The others are doing fine. Quindiuense certainly prefers shade. All of them receive abundant overhead water and none of them have rotted. We usually have cool nighttime temps and most have been in the ground for about 6-7 years. Orianopsis appendiculata is doing well also and looks just as if it were a ceroxylon too.