Hyphaene

[Breadfruit Bill]

Why isn't this palm used more often? It is a real beauty... unusual in the landscape, low water requirements, low maintenance, etc. etc. I'm going to plant one of these... They are awesome! Anyone growing these? post some pics please... This one was taken at Fairchild...

[palmislandRandy]

This one is at the soon to be doomed American Orchid Society Garden in Delray Beach Florida.

[PalmatierMeg]

Hello Bill,

A couple months ago we bought a double-trunked Hyphaene thebaica at HD and planted it in the back yard. I agree most people don't rate them a look as opposed to "sexy" pinnate palms that get 90% of the notice and responses on Palmtalk. Too bad because Hyphaene can take whatever nature throws at them here. I will post some photos of my gingerbread palm but first a picture of one marked as "Hyphaene thebaica" in a Ft. Myers palm park.

[freakypalmguy]

I have two Hyphaene coriacea and they are the most frost tender of all the plants in my entire yard. Every year the frost completely defoliates them, but they grow back just fine. I'm hoping they will gain some hardiness as they get older. I'm half tempted to plant some sort of hardy palm next to them for canopy.

[Kris]

Dear Friends

Lovely stills...keep them comming !

Lots of love,

Kris

[NatureGirl]

My Hyphaene dicotoma

[Gbarce]

THis is my H. Thebaica. Its only been on teh ground for 1.5 years and I cant wait for it to start branching off.

This is going to make a pretty interesting silhouette when it matures (how many decades will that take)

Since it will eventually have a wide spread --crown wise I only planned on having 1 in the garden to make sure I have space for other palms.

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

My Hyphaene dicotoma

Wow, beautiful palm...how old is it?

Rusty

[DoomsDave]

Some of the H's are gorgeous, with orange petioles, black spines and green green leaves, like the green green grass of home.

Others are silver.

Hmm.

Another Unsung Palm Hero?

[_Keith]

I have two Hyphaene coriacea and they are the most frost tender of all the plants in my entire yard. Every year the frost completely defoliates them, but they grow back just fine. I'm hoping they will gain some hardiness as they get older. I'm half tempted to plant some sort of hardy palm next to them for canopy.

Matt, what zone would you say you are in?

[Eric in Orlando]

Here are the Hyphaene we have at Leu Gardens;

H. coriacea (this one was formerly H. turbinata)

H. coriacea (this one was formerly H. schatan)

a young H. petersiana

We also have a young H. dichotoma

[MattyB]

The spear just pulled on my H. thebaica. It never liked winter, even in a black pot baking in the sun.

[freakypalmguy]

The spear just pulled on my H. thebaica. It never liked winter, even in a black pot baking in the sun.

Aw, bummer Matt. Both of my small H. coriacea defoliate in winter but come back strong so maybe it will pull out of it. I think, no, I AM going to protect them next winter. I have even thought about putting a queen in next to each one to give it some canopy. As much as I hate to plant any more queens, this seems like it could be a viable solution.

thebaica must be less cold tolerant than coriacea.

Matt

[ViveroLaVida]

they don't like being in containers. I have found that as soon as they are in the ground they grow at a steady rate, where as in a pot they seem to languish and grow very very slow.

[Eric in Orlando]

a big H. compressa at Fairchild;

a long term surviving Hyphaene sp. at Dent Smith's estate in Daytona Beach

[Eric in Orlando]

a big H. compressa at Fairchild;

a long term surviving Hyphaene sp. at Dent Smith's estate in Daytona Beach

[Breadfruit Bill]

Wow Eric!!! I think know where that H compressa is (was)... right by the pine area and the service entrance... I wish I would have seen that palm... I'm guessing hurricanes blew it away?

[Eric in Orlando]

Yes, it is out in the lowlands, just past where they planted that south FL Slash Pine habitat. That photo was taken several years ago so don't know if the hurricanes took it out. I hope not as it was a very impressive specimen.

[Breadfruit Bill]

If memory serves... I think there is still some portion of Hyphaene there, but nothing like what you pictured....

I believe this C. barbadensis in on that corner now...

[sonoranfans]

they don't like being in containers. I have found that as soon as they are in the ground they grow at a steady rate, where as in a pot they seem to languish and grow very very slow.

All hyphaenes send down a very deep 100cm+ sinker root just after germination. Some sources suggest a "very deep pot", some say dont plant the seed in a pot at all, put it in the ground. Handling the roots is a no no, you will probably kill it. I suspect growing them in pots creates problems for the palm later as the roots may not develop properly. Rod Anderson here in phoenix ("Rod" here at palmtalk) has a number of hyphaene, all planted from seed if I recall correctly. He recommended the thebaica as the most cold tolerant, almost no foliage damage at 23F in '07. They like heat and alot of sun, and hate shade and cool wet winters.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?sh...phaene+thebaica

Edited March 2, 2009 by sonoranfans

[freakypalmguy]

they don't like being in containers. I have found that as soon as they are in the ground they grow at a steady rate, where as in a pot they seem to languish and grow very very slow.

All hyphaenes send down a very deep 100cm+ sinker root just after germination. Some sources suggest a "very deep pot", some say dont plant the seed in a pot at all, put it in the ground. Handling the roots is a no no, you will probably kill it. I suspect growing them in pots creates problems for the palm later as the roots may not develop properly. Rod Anderson here in phoenix ("Rod" here at palmtalk) has a number of hyphaene, all planted from seed if I recall correctly. He recommended the thebaica as the most cold tolerant, almost no foliage damage at 23F in '07. They like heat and alot of sun, and hate shade and cool wet winters.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?sh...phaene+thebaica

Good info Tom, I will have to try to find H. thebaica, as both of my H. coriacea turn black after multiple nights below about 25F and light frost. They seam to be able to withstand one or two nights in those ranges but succumb after more than that, or maybe it just takes a while for the damage to show. Now that being said, Kevin Weaver (KW Palms and Cycads) has a large mature coriacea and it has shown no damage at all but it has canopy from queens. I think it is the frost, not the temps that do mine in. His defoliated after the freeze of 07' but came right back. I think he saw 17F.

Matt

[sonoranfans]

they don't like being in containers. I have found that as soon as they are in the ground they grow at a steady rate, where as in a pot they seem to languish and grow very very slow.

All hyphaenes send down a very deep 100cm+ sinker root just after germination. Some sources suggest a "very deep pot", some say dont plant the seed in a pot at all, put it in the ground. Handling the roots is a no no, you will probably kill it. I suspect growing them in pots creates problems for the palm later as the roots may not develop properly. Rod Anderson here in phoenix ("Rod" here at palmtalk) has a number of hyphaene, all planted from seed if I recall correctly. He recommended the thebaica as the most cold tolerant, almost no foliage damage at 23F in '07. They like heat and alot of sun, and hate shade and cool wet winters.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?sh...phaene+thebaica

Good info Tom, I will have to try to find H. thebaica, as both of my H. coriacea turn black after multiple nights below about 25F and light frost. They seam to be able to withstand one or two nights in those ranges but succumb after more than that, or maybe it just takes a while for the damage to show. Now that being said, Kevin Weaver (KW Palms and Cycads) has a large mature coriacea and it has shown no damage at all but it has canopy from queens. I think it is the frost, not the temps that do mine in. His defoliated after the freeze of 07' but came right back. I think he saw 17F.

Matt

I believe that Rods compressa completely defoliated in 23F, no frost in '07. Then it made a very strong recovery that year. The thebaica didnt not have notable damage at those temps. Wet and cold is very bad for these as they rot easily. Perhaps this means coastal SC is not a good place for them, but inland SoCal should be fine. Two of my little strap leaf seedlings look OK, I dont expect them to show any growth until it gets hot. Maybe Queens can keep off some of the frost and cold, but they look best in the hot sun. The ones taking the hottest(direct) western late day and mid day sun look the best. Sun might be needed to dry them off, warm them up in winter. I have 3 seedlings and the best looking one now was getting the warmest winter sun, all day. The best specimen, as received, was planted in a spot that tends to get more winter shade(2-3 hrs sun due to being NE of the house), and it looks like it may be a goner.

Edited March 2, 2009 by sonoranfans

[Rod]

My hyphaene's have been in the ground for over 10 years. The frost of 07 really made them look bad. I did loose 2 H. compressa's (I planted them insitu in 2001). The compressa's will look frost bitten even if the night time lows are only 31°. I have lost trunks when we have had wet winters. This year I plan on trimming the palms back to the trunk so that there isn't any chance of mold and mildew to rot the trunk.

The Hyphaene's here in Arizona will grow remarkable faster if they are given plenty of water during the growing season. As of today, all of my Hyphaene's are female except one lone male. Could make for some interesting crosses.

Rod

Phoenix

[sonoranfans]

My hyphaene's have been in the ground for over 10 years. The frost of 07 really made them look bad. I did loose 2 H. compressa's (I planted them insitu in 2001). The compressa's will look frost bitten even if the night time lows are only 31°. I have lost trunks when we have had wet winters. This year I plan on trimming the palms back to the trunk so that there isn't any chance of mold and mildew to rot the trunk.

The Hyphaene's here in Arizona will grow remarkable faster if they are given plenty of water during the growing season. As of today, all of my Hyphaene's are female except one lone male. Could make for some interesting crosses.

Rod

Phoenix

Interesting Rod that you had frost in '07, I had none at all only 30 miles away. Typically in the phx area, the lowest temps occur when the dew points are very low. In my area the dew point was 16F according to the local weather station, and temps were 20.4 F.

[Rod]

Interesting Rod that you had frost in '07, I had none at all only 30 miles away. Typically in the phx area, the lowest temps occur when the dew points are very low. In my area the dew point was 16F according to the local weather station, and temps were 20.4 F.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

After at least 6 nights in the 20's some with heavy frost, my Hyphaene has completely defoliated. However, the new spears are already opening so I expect a full recovery. Maybe next winter won't be as cold. I found that it grew quickly after planting into the ground. This weekend I'm going to begin the spring cleanup. With temps near 80, it's perfect for yardwork. Unfortunately every day I find more freeze damage. I'm going to be ruthless taking out many plants that failed or look miserable after a winter with multiple freeze events, (but nothing unusual for this part of the country). Life is just too short to look at an ugly landscape!

[freakypalmguy]

After at least 6 nights in the 20's some with heavy frost, my Hyphaene has completely defoliated. However, the new spears are already opening so I expect a full recovery. Maybe next winter won't be as cold. I found that it grew quickly after planting into the ground. This weekend I'm going to begin the spring cleanup. With temps near 80, it's perfect for yardwork. Unfortunately every day I find more freeze damage. I'm going to be ruthless taking out many plants that failed or look miserable after a winter with multiple freeze events, (but nothing unusual for this part of the country). Life is just too short to look at an ugly landscape!

Your pics look exactly as my two Hyphaene coriacea have looked the last two winters since going in the ground. They do grow back quickly. I will protect mine next winter as this is one I really would like to see make it.

[Meangreen94z]

On 3/1/2009 at 8:44 AM, Gbarce said:

 

[Meangreen94z]

On 3/2/2009 at 10:59 AM, Eric in Orlando said:

Here are the Hyphaene we have at Leu Gardens;

 

H. coriacea (this one was formerly H. turbinata)

 

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Palmate%20Palms/3f24.jpg

 

 

 

H. coriacea (this one was formerly H. schatan)

 

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Palmate%20Palms/img_1012.jpg

 

 

a young H. petersiana

 

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc37/Leu51/Palmate%20Palms/img_1780.jpg

 

 

We also have a young H. dichotoma

Are these still there?

[fr8train]

I wish they could grow here :/

[Meangreen94z]

1 hour ago, fr8train said:

I wish they could grow here 😕

Coriacea and thebaica should survive along the coast up through Houston. It would be nice if it could survive in Central Texas. 

[Josue Diaz]

I've never seen one for sale, otherwise I'd have tried one already. I do have seeds which I'll be starting this spring. 

[zero]

3 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

I've never seen one for sale, otherwise I'd have tried one already. I do have seeds which I'll be starting this spring. 

Make sure you start them in a deep pot it in the ground as suggested by others.  Here's my Hyphaene coriacea a week after germination in a baggie then in a 14" tree pot.  I put it in the ground shortly after this!

[PalmatierMeg]

My H thebaica grew a bit, lingered a while longer before carking. I think my sweltering summer did it in. Never saw another Hyphaene again at either the orange or blue BB, or anywhere else for that matter. An arid climate suits them best.