Hyphaene thebaica seeds

[PalmatierMeg]

Greetings, Palm Lovers,

While photographing palms in a downtown Ft. Myers park, we picked up seeds beneath the Hyphaene thebaica. They look like lumpy, misshapen mutants. How does one clean, prepare and germinate them? Or are they even worth the effort? Check out the photos:

[Rod]

Greetings, Palm Lovers,

While photographing palms in a downtown Ft. Myers park, we picked up seeds beneath the Hyphaene thebaica. They look like lumpy, misshapen mutants. How does one clean, prepare and germinate them? Or are they even worth the effort? Check out the photos:

Meg:

The smaller fruits that you picked up won't be viable. Put the rest in a container of water and the ones that float aren't any good either. The ones that sink will be good. Here's what you do: you can either shave off the fruit on the flat side or remove all of the fruit altogether (not an easy job). To germinate, just use the baggie method - be sure the peat moss is not too moist. Once the first roots have immerged, you can put the seed in a well draining mix (tall container is best) or just plant it in the ground (best choice). A word of caution: the roots are very fragile - if you break them you might as well throw it away. Also, you can't transplant this palm once planted. You've seen what a mature plant looks like, so that should help you determine the best place for it.

Can you go back and take a picture of this palm and post it here?

Rod

Phoenix

[PalmatierMeg]

Rod, I'm posting the pictures I took of this Hyphaene thebaica over the weekend. I assume the City of Fort Myers ID'ed it correctly (maybe a bad assumption)

[sonoranfans]

Rod, I'm posting the pictures I took of this Hyphaene thebaica over the weekend. I assume the City of Fort Myers ID'ed it correctly (maybe a bad assumption)

thanks for the Hyphaene pic meg! That palm is an impressive specimen!

[PalmatierMeg]

Tom, glad you liked it. Most of the palms/cycads there are impressive, old specimens of their species. That little park is well worth a visit. On weekends parking is a breeze there.

[Tala]

doesn't look like a thebaica, these will noticeably branch above ground at that size, not as much as compressa but more than the others. I'd say it is a very old coriacea (they do branch but always subterranean), or possibly a very old dichotoma (these also branch below ground but stems grow at fairly close/equal pace).

All Hyphaene are very easy grow from seed, perhaps the easiest of all the Borassoids along w/ close relative Bismarckia. I never clean the seeds, just set them in deep pots (citrus liners work great for first two yrs), they can sprout sporadically, some in 3 or 4 months, others from the same batch a yr later - so be patient.