Chamaedorea dammeriana

[John in Andalucia]

A customer has come back to me looking for info on Chamaedorea dammeriana, so I wondered if anyone can enlighten me. It is not a species I would normally stock, but I had some left over from a personal request by a previous customer who, after bugging me to satisfy his collection, is now buying direct from my supplier. Such is life. So is anyone growing this species? Some photos would be great, as I could direct him here for the visuals.

[Joe palma]

After growing one for about 5 years and having grown way overhead, it croaked on me just last week (or I should say finished croaking on me).

It always seemed to have something wrong w/ it pathogen wise and I've always had it quarantined. Brown tip leaflets and spots on the leaves. Looked decent for the most part, but this past fairly mild winter it apparantly wasn't happy.

[Charles Wychgel]

After growing one for about 5 years and having grown way overhead, it croaked on me just last week (or I should say finished croaking on me).

It always seemed to have something wrong w/ it pathogen wise and I've always had it quarantined. Brown tip leaflets and spots on the leaves. Looked decent for the most part, but this past fairly mild winter it apparantly wasn't happy.

Doesn't sound good I wonder is this one of the C.turckheimii class....almost impossible to grow unless everything.. soil(acid) water (neutral) and temperature (warm shade)....is right

I can tell you more after a year John, as I just planted the ones I got from you , here is a pic

[John in Andalucia]

Looking good, Charles. I will keep a couple of C. dammeriana specimens and grow them in the greenhouse here, for comparison. Thanks for posting yours.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

Hi John

Got a few when visiting the US a few years ago, Quarantine killed them unfortunately. Keep them and grow them to maturity for seed, There are none in Australia as to date none of us have been able to get seed

would love to get some

regards

Colin

[John in Andalucia]

Will do, Colin. Maybe Jeff in Costa Rica knows something about their natural habitat?

[XYZ]

John:

I have about a dozen young plants grown from Panamanian seed that I put down several years back...still in plug trays, but def. fairly easy (here); essentially I find them to be a rojasiana on steroids that is more tolerant of warmer temps. Would certainly not include this palmlet with any of the "tricky" dwarfs (such as stenocarpa, tuercks, correae, etc.).

J

[rocco]

After growing one for about 5 years and having grown way overhead, it croaked on me just last week (or I should say finished croaking on me).

It always seemed to have something wrong w/ it pathogen wise and I've always had it quarantined. Brown tip leaflets and spots on the leaves. Looked decent for the most part, but this past fairly mild winter it apparantly wasn't happy.

HOLLA jhon

Usted puede comprar ceroxylon alpinum y amazonicum en la direccion Paul witte@viverossubtropicales.com (TENERIFE )

Dele recuerdos a este senor de mi parte Roberto Curion

[Kamipalms]

Hi Everybody!!!

Just dropped in for a visit and couldn't resist after seeing this post......

C.dammeriana is one of those ilusive palms that shows its face every decade or so and dissaperes again.

John - if you have a few of these take very good care of them as they are on the rarer side of the Chamaedorea genus and should be quite easy to keep ( ignore Mr Stone Jaguars comments as his climate allows him to grow the stuff the rest of us can only dream of )

As with most chamaedorea keep an eye on the heat and humidity and you should be fine.

J , necesitamos hablar. its been a while

[Tyrone]

Great to see you again on the forum Jay. I can speak for most who know you, that we've missed your posts.

Best regards

Tyrone

[John in Andalucia]

Many thanks for your input, everyone. Someone is sending me a page scan of Chamaedorea dammeriana from, "Chamaedorea Palms the Species and Their Cultivation" by D. Hodel. I must say, Chamaedorea are growing on me, and I really ought to buy this book when I can afford to.

[Morabeza]

Many thanks for your input, everyone. Someone is sending me a page scan of Chamaedorea dammeriana from, "Chamaedorea Palms the Species and Their Cultivation" by D. Hodel. I must say, Chamaedorea are growing on me, and I really ought to buy this book when I can afford to.

Hi John and all,

I finally bought the book this January and I am so very glad that I did!

It is really a shame that so few Chamaedorea species are grown by so few people in suitable climates and in suitable substrates. We need to start a movement to popularise the genus! Of course, just like another mouthwatering book of mine, "Angraecoid Orchids", no matter how inspiring and educational, ultimately both books amount to a tease to the average grower because most of the species featured are simply unavailable to palm enthusiasts (to be clear, I'm speaking of both Chamaedorea palms and Angraecoid orchids here!). I truly hope that enough enthusiasm and demand will be created for these wonderful gems of the Arecaceae in order to bring more ethically seed-grown stock of these amazing jewels into our gardens!

I don't yet have a picture of my C. dammeriana, but it has grown without any problems for me in my wet, shady, cool, breezy, humid location on O'ahu.

[XYZ]

Greetings,

The myth that the most-coveted species of Chams are not in commercial cultivation in their range states appears to be alive and well.

At this time, the only showy/noteworthy spp. that I am aware of that are not being commercially-propagated, at least on a small scale in Central America, are C. piscifolia, C. rigida and C. verecunda. Conversely, there are two very attractive undescribed dwarf spp. from northern Mesoamerica being grown by at least a trio of growers in the region.

Not surprisingly, seed-grown plants of a number of species previously considered to be very difficult to grow have proven themselves surprisingly easy, and many flower at an early age (< 4 years).

And, "yes", there most certainly are a number of intractable spp. to maintain in captivity even with the best of care, climate and water. Beyond brown-tipping, IME, spider mites are THE major challenge to keeping many looking their best and make it practically impossible to maintain these gems as house plants.

It is common knowledge (and published opinion) amongst older palm growers that the popularity of Chams has declined apace with introductions of many other showy "new" palm spp. from areas like Malagasy, Malesia and New Caledonia that are not only far easier for Joe & Joanne SixPack to grow but also significantly less expensive to acquire than most of the simple-leaf cloud forest Chams. In other words, does the average grower really want to spring somewhere around a benny for a small palm with a reputation for frailty whose aesthetics are, to be frank, often eclipsed by a 25-40 dollar Calyptrocalyx, Dypsis or Pinanga spp that will provide years of easy gratification?

Fortunately for many growers, the really challenging Chamaedorea spp. are few and far in between, unlike some of the most desireable small-statured geonomas and so forth.

BRgds,

J

Edited April 8, 2009 by stone jaguar

[Jeff Searle]

I have a few small plants that I recieved from Floribunda Palms a couple of years ago. They seem to grow ok for me, far short from some of their sister species. I will probably plant these out this summer sometime and keep an eye on them.

When Don's book came out many years ago, there was more popularity on these palms with collectors and growers, and there was more seed available it seemed. But over time, less and less customers were asking for Chamaedorea's and started collecting other species of palms. And up and until now, there is basically very little seed collecting beeing done, due to various reasons. Habitat loss, rising cost to travel, and very few seed/per plant are just some of the contributing factors.

Jeff

[Moose]

Jeff - I was unaware that you had some of these gems "tucked" away. Sorry but the begging starts on Saturday when I see you at the party! Also, where have you been hiding the Neonicholsonia watsonia at your nursery. I did not see them at your sale and I got there early. I called in sick to work that day to get to the limited "Gucci" material!