The smallest flowering palm in the world?

[kylecawazafla]

Christian Faulkner donated this palm to my experimental palm garden in Northern Florida. I am not sure what kind it is, but I think the name of it is Rhapis sp. singapore dwarf. It is a 10 inch tall cluster with about 40 palms growing out of an area that occupies about 10 square inches. I have included some photos, with various things to show it for scale. It is planted in full sun.

[paulgila]

hey someone dropped 5 bucks on the ground!!!

[kylecawazafla]

My leg and running shoe next to it.

[Breadfruit Bill]

I've got a Licuala triphylla? sp. thai dwarf that is way small and fruiting...

[kylecawazafla]

The inflorescence! There are actually two stalks that are flowering.

[kylecawazafla]

My giant finger next to it.

[kylecawazafla]

Sorry for the bad quality, but here is its base.

[Breadfruit Bill]

Wow, that thing is teeny tiny... brb, must get photos of that Licuala for you.

[kylecawazafla]

The $5 may still be there! Hurry and get it before it's too late!

Pious Palms! Perhaps you could include a photo of your palm on here too? I like that palm variety a lot, especially when the fruits are ripe. It looks very out of proportion and funky.... in a good way.

[paulgila]

i got dibs! i saw it 1st!!!

[kylecawazafla]

I pocketed it, but I'll give it to you next time I see you, on request. There'd be a $10 transaction fee, however.

[SubTropicRay]

Bill,

A better question is whether anyone has an L. triphylla that's not setting seed? I wonder if these plants we have are older than they look or just start reproducing when very young?

Ray

[paulgila]

I pocketed it, but I'll give it to you next time I see you, on request. There'd be a $10 transaction fee, however.

d'oh!!!

[Breadfruit Bill]

LOL, good call Ray! This thing was flowerin' upon my aquisition, and this seed is that last one on the infructesence... maybe it will be viable?!

[Breadfruit Bill]

I recieved this plant on 12-20-07 and this is how big it was!

[Walter John]

I recall Clayton showing a small palm in fruit, perhaps the smallest, I think it was a Dypsis.

[Ken Johnson]

Anybody have a picture of Syagrus liliputiana? It may be the smallest palm period. It looks like a blade or two of grass with a 2 inch bloom spike sticking OVER the top of the leaves!

[Jeff Searle]

Kyle,

No doubt, these are one of the smallest palms that flower freely. I got them when they were first introduced about 4 years ago. The problem is, their all the same sex, and therefore will not set seed.

I have a Dypsis in the nursery that flowered a couple of months ago. I think Ryan took a pic. of back then, so I will see if he can put it up. The plant itself is probably only 6-8' tall. But, I think it was more of a freak thing when this individual palm started flowering. We'll try and get a pic. up soon.

Jeff

[surgeon83]

Hey, I have that exact same shoe! Wish I had the time to run though, and wish I had $5

Cool tiny palm. Good thing it wasn't planted in the middle of the lawn where they certainly would hae mowed it down!

[kylecawazafla]

Kyle,

No doubt, these are one of the smallest palms that flower freely. I got them when they were first introduced about 4 years ago. The problem is, their all the same sex, and therefore will not set seed.

I have a Dypsis in the nursery that flowered a couple of months ago. I think Ryan took a pic. of back then, so I will see if he can put it up. The plant itself is probably only 6-8' tall. But, I think it was more of a freak thing when this individual palm started flowering. We'll try and get a pic. up soon.

Jeff

Jeff, is every cluster the same sex, or every palm in the cluster the same sex?

Ken, I would like to hear more information on that Syagrus. With a name like lilliputiana, I am rather skeptical that it's real. Has anyone on this forum seen one? I hope it's not fictional like the island!

[Palmarum]

It is a very cool Rhapis, but I am still not sure if it is a distinct species, but rather a dwarfed cultivar of a regular species, probably R. excelsa. It is labeled here in S. FL often as Rhapis excelsa cv. nana "Super Dwarf", Super Dwarf Lady Palm. I tried my best one time to dig up information about the palm when I wrote a description for it. The oldest reference I could find to a palm fitting its description was in an old Thai catalog. Thailand is famous for producing miniaturized plants, so that led me to believe it was a cultivar and not a species. It has been produced by division for so many years, I do not know if both genders exist anywhere.

kylecawazafla Posted Today, 08:25 PM

Jeff, is every cluster the same sex, or every palm in the cluster the same sex?

Every clump is the same, clustering individual.

Ken, I would like to hear more information on that Syagrus. With a name like lilliputiana, I am rather skeptical that it's real.

Ken Johnson is correct, to my knowledge Syagrus lilliputiana is the smallest flowering palm species in the world, and it is real. The species maxes out at 15cm in height, that is 5.9 inches. The inflorescence sticks out just a tad longer than the grass like leaves. Most people would step on it, or spray it with Round-Up before taking a second look at it. It has been listed as a synonym to Syagrus graminifolia, but I have mentioned this to Syagrus expert Larry Noblick and he flat out disagrees that it is the same species.

- Photos of the Rhapis Jeff wanted me to post.

Ryan

[BS Man about Palms]

Kyle,

No doubt, these are one of the smallest palms that flower freely. I got them when they were first introduced about 4 years ago. The problem is, their all the same sex, and therefore will not set seed.

I have a Dypsis in the nursery that flowered a couple of months ago. I think Ryan took a pic. of back then, so I will see if he can put it up. The plant itself is probably only 6-8' tall. But, I think it was more of a freak thing when this individual palm started flowering. We'll try and get a pic. up soon.

Jeff

Ken, I would like to hear more information on that Syagrus. With a name like lilliputiana, I am rather skeptical that it's real. Has anyone on this forum seen one? I hope it's not fictional like the island!

I vaguely remember reading of this species somewhere, maybe in an IPS journal.

Bill

EDIT- sometimes I take too long to type....

[Jeff Searle]

Ryan,

I meant the picture of the Dypsis that was flowering awhile back. I thought you took a couple of pictures that day of it, maybe not.

Jeff

[Neofolis]

I think my Licuala triphylla was about 4" tall, if that, when it first flowered and produced fruit.

[Daryl]

This one is a pretty small flowering plant...Dypsis minuta at Utopia

regards,

Daryl

[Walter John]

That's it Daz, I thought it was a Dypsis at Claytons.

[kylecawazafla]

The size of that Dypsis is unbelievable! To give the Rhapis SOME credit, it would look much smaller if the cluster of about 40 or so individuals were separated into individual stalks. How old would those Dypsis be?

Ryan, thank you for the abundance of information! You really know your stuff!

[Carlo Morici]

Fascinating... and new. I beleive all the tiny-blooming palms you have mentioned so far were unknown until a few years ago, at least unknown in cultivation.

Carlo

[Jeff Searle]

Daryl,

Those palms are pretty amazing! I knew they were pretty small, but damn! Thanks for a great gem.

Jeff

[Eric in Orlando]

A vendor was selling these Rhapis at our plant sale about 7 or 8 years ago. He got them from Thailand and they were labeled Rhapis "Thai Dwarf". They are the same size as when I got them, about like the one's in Jeff's photos. They are in 6" pots kept in the greenhouse. Any planted out here would leave with sticky fingers so they are kept locked up.

[tank]

Kyle,

Are you planning on protecting anything this winter?

[Caryota_gigas]

I had one Rhapis flower at less than 6 inches tall.