The most beautiful Phoenix, the rupicola

[palmaddict]

Fellow palm addicts,

I planted this from a 15 gallon several years ago and it does have a reputation as being slow.  It really is starting to come into form.  I appreciate the much softer look of this Phoenix as compared to the many other species.  Hope you like it.  I am a fan of mixing different plant types as the book Tropical Look speaks of.  Thus the barrel cactus and rupicola.

Patrick

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

Sweet, P A....nice clean look

[Jeff Searle]

Patrick,

   What a great look, I need to plant my small one in the ground,ASAP. Also, is that a sidewalk through your yard? What a clean look. Thanks for the pic.

  Jeff

[chris.oz]

Patrick,

No argument with me on the relative beauty of the Phoenix species,  and as this is a smaller size,  it fits in well into a small lot,  whereas the CIDP tends to be dominant on normal house lots.

Incidently,  what is your average rainfall.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Patrick,

Nice parklike setting you have. You are obviously an artistic person. Your creative use of rock and companion plants sets off you palms beautifully...nice job!

[palmaddict]

Chris,

I am just south of San Diego, we average 10 inches a year although we have had years with 25 inches and some with only 4-5 inches.  It is not unusual for us to go 150-180 days straight without any rain.  

Patrick

[DoomsDave]

LOVE the Rupie, and the Swooning Cacti . . . .

They are a bit tempermental, especially when small.  They don't take the cold as well as some of the Phoenix, but, yeah, they're SO pretty.

dave

[Zac in NC]

(palmaddict @ Nov. 20 2006,22:43)

QUOTE

Fellow palm addicts,

I planted this from a 15 gallon several years ago and it does have a reputation as being slow.  It really is starting to come into form.  I appreciate the much softer look of this Phoenix as compared to the many other species.  Hope you like it.  I am a fan of mixing different plant types as the book Tropical Look speaks of.  Thus the barrel cactus and rupicola.

Patrick

And I bet Bob Riffle would praise you for that if he were still with us. He was alway so nice to everyone. I like the look with the Barrel Cacti and the rupicola.

Zac

[Fred Zone 10A]

I agree that Phoenix rupicola is the loveliest of the Phoenixes.  Here's a recent photo of one of mine.

[Kris]

Dear palm Addict  

neat layout of the palm & cacti,thanks for

those stills.

Now to Fred Zone your palm looks great &

iam glad u have brought in your other loved

one too_"your pet"

its hair coat looks great & i understand that

u even take care of your pet as u do to your palms.

Love,

Kris.

[Palmateer]

A hybrid of rupicola and roebellini is even nicer:

[Gtlevine]

Your right, that hybrid you have is one of the nicest palms I have seen, even nicer than a coconut.

GAry

[MattyB]

Hey, If anyone thinks of it, I'm looking for some P. rupicola pollen to cross w/ my roebs. when they flower next spring/summer.

[Scott]

Patrick - I think it's beautiful. And what a clean setting. Very Good!

Fred, despite the great Rupi in your photo, the dog steals the show! Dogs just have a tendancy to do that.

Tom - how old is that hybrid of rupicola/ roebellini?

[Palmateer]

Scott - it's VERY old. The nurseryman I got it from said it was planted in the late 1950s. Very slow grower.

[SunnyFl]

Tom, your rupi/roeb is a beauty!  If there's one phoenix nicer than a rupi, that hybrid is the one

I have to ask - might there be a spindle hiding behind the phoenix?  I have a spindle at the corner of my house to, but no powder-blue crownshaft (mine's olive green grrr) - and I have the same hose box thingy.

Patrick - your garden is very well designed and I like the mix of plants (esp. the rupi, of course) and rock.  Very nice!

[DoomsDave]

(Fred Zone 10A @ Nov. 21 2006,10:23)

QUOTE

I agree that Phoenix rupicola is the loveliest of the Phoenixes.  Here's a recent photo of one of mine.

Fred!

Love the rupie and the Swooning Pooch!

dave

[iwan]

(Palmateer @ Nov. 21 2006,07:52)

QUOTE

A hybrid of rupicola and roebellini is even nicer:

Ooooh, I want!  Hybrids are cool!

[Exotic Life]

I like this phoenix species so much !!

[The Germinator]

I planted a VERY small 1 strapper in the ground late last winter, it is now a very small 2 strapper. I also did this this with a L. jenkinsiana with similar results. Wish me luck.

[Palmateer]

Took a picture this AM of the Phoenix rupicola at Kopsick Arboretum in St. Petersburg:

[Dave Butler]

Need a Trim

[Alicehunter2000]

Anybody know if crossing with a P. sylvestris would give it much hardiness? Any pictures of such a cross?

David

[Walt]

I concur that Phoenix rupicola is one fine palm. It's one species I'd like to see more of, but I've never, ever seen one for sale in any of the palm nurseries in my county.

Below of some P. rupicola I've found here in Highlands County, Florida:

by waltcat100

by waltcat100

by waltcat100

by waltcat100

This phoenix appears to be a hybrid:

by waltcat100

[spockvr6]

(Walt @ Nov. 24 2006,22:19)

QUOTE

Below of some P. rupicola I've found here in Highlands County, Florida:

Holy smokes Walt!  The one in your third pic is huge!  I dont think Ive ever seen one of that size before.

[Fred Zone 10A]

You want rupies?  I got rupies.

Here is a photo taken in 2004 of two P. rupicola at the Huntington.

[Palmateer]

It's the tendency for hybridization that makes Phoenix palm hunting interesting.

[SunnyFl]

(Palmateer @ Nov. 24 2006,13:38)

QUOTE

Took a picture this AM of the Phoenix rupicola at Kopsick Arboretum in St. Petersburg:

Hey thanks for posting that - it's even more beautiful than the last time I saw it!  I haven't been able to get a spare minute to get down to Kopsick, thanks to life's twists n' turns - it's ridiculous that I live so close to it and haven't been, grrrr.

Walt, do you own any of those lovelies that you posted that you "found here in Highlands County, Florida" ?  True, I haven't seen any for sale either, or I'd have one by now.  Are their cold- and frost-tolerance the same as roebelenii - or are they more sensitive?  And are their needs (soil, water, ferts) similar?

There's another rupi at the USF Botanical Garden - but it seems to have something going on with the trunk - didn't look quite healthy, if anyone's familiar with that one.

I oughta post a piccie of the two rupis a couple of blocks from here - they're bodacious (Tom, that's the pair down 58th).

[Walt]

SunnyFl: None of the rupicola palms in the photos I posted belong to me. I do have a small one, though. It has grown very, very slow for me. It's been in the ground about six years now (had two of them but one died).

They are somewhat frost sensitive. As I stated above, I had two of these palms, both the same size. Both were frost burned very badly from the severe radiational freeze I had on 01/05/01. One of these palms never recuperated and eventually died a 2-3 years later. I'm sure they would have fared much better had they been larger. Rupicolas are probably about equal, in terms of cold/frost hardiness as roebelenii, maybe slightly hardier.

Here are some clumping phoenix palms that bare strong resemblence to rupicola. In fact, the guy that owns them said they are a clumping form of rupicola. I have my doubts about that, though, as I've never heard of a clumping rupicola. In any case, they sure look like rupicolas.

by waltcat100

[SunnyFl]

(Walt @ Nov. 26 2006,19:46)

QUOTE

Here are some clumping phoenix palms that bare strong resemblence to rupicola. In fact, the guy that owns them said they are a clumping form of rupicola. I have my doubts about that, though, as I've never heard of a clumping rupicola. In any case, they sure look like rupicolas.

Yowwwww!  Those are beautiful!!  But clumping rupis?  Never heard of such.  I wonder if it was a case of a few seeds germinating in the same pot (area?) at different times - or maybe a hybrid rupi/reclinata?

They are somewhat frost sensitive. As I stated above, I had two of these palms, both the same size. Both were frost burned very badly from the severe radiational freeze I had on 01/05/01. One of these palms never recuperated and eventually died a 2-3 years later. I'm sure they would have fared much better had they been larger. Rupicolas are probably about equal, in terms of cold/frost hardiness as roebelenii, maybe slightly hardier.

 I'm sorry that you lost your palm to the freeze - sounds as if it was a very bad frost  

Wouldn't it be great to group three rupis of varying heights with 3 roebs - that would be something to see.......

......of course, that would mean finding some rupis.  which we can't.  grrr.

[chris.oz]

(SunnyFl @ Nov. 26 2006,20:09)

QUOTE

......of course, that would mean finding some rupis.  which we can't.  grrr.

I note bad yellowing on the Huintingdon palms.   Looks like potassium & or magnesium deficiency and its way up into the young leaves.  

I have a large rupi about to trunk,  but I also bought 10 seeds 12 months ago from RPS.

These are the result:

[Palmateer]

(Dave Butler @ Nov. 24 2006,13:50)

QUOTE

Need a Trim

If you've got a tall ladder, bring it on over  ::

[Reyes Vargas]

In going to revive this thread.  I bought some palm seedlings years ago on eBay and was told that they were cliff date palms Phoenix rupicola.  I have been living with them for over 15 years thinking that, that was what they were.  Recently I posted a picture and was told that they clumping palms which is what mine are doing.  I have included a few pictures hoping someone can tell what it is or what it is hybridized with.  Thanks.

[DoomsDave]

@Reyes Vargas those look like either Phoenix reclinata or reclinata crossed with rupicola

Very nice

[Cikas]

Looks like Phoenix reclinata. 

[Reyes Vargas]

Thanks Dave.  I'm leaning more to it being a cross between the reclinata and rupicola.  I say that because I bought seeds from reclinata and the first sprout of the reclinata seeds look nothing like the first sprout of the seeds from these trees.  Anyways I do like the way they look.

[Reyes Vargas]

20 minutes ago, Cikas said:

Looks like Phoenix reclinata. 

Hey Cikas I doubt it's a pure reclinata.  Here is a picture of a pure reclinata and a picture of my tree.  Im leaning to it being a cross between both reclinata and rupicola.  As you can see the fronds from the pure reclinata has like a scraggly look and my tree has a flat cleaner look.

[sonoranfans]

Reyes the first one doesnt look like pure reclinata.  Reclinatas have planar leaves.  That first one looks like it has dactylifera or sylvestris in it due to the multi planar, semi plumose leaf arrangement.  Pure reclinatas are very hard to get as they hybridize readily even in habitat.  I can't say about the second one, but both don't seem to have the recurved leaves (bendng towards the ground) like reclinatas.  https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Phoenix_reclinata

[Reyes Vargas]

6 hours ago, sonoranfans said:

Reyes the first one doesnt look like pure reclinata.  Reclinatas have planar leaves.  That first one looks like it has dactylifera or sylvestris in it due to the multi planar, semi plumose leaf arrangement.  Pure reclinatas are very hard to get as they hybridize readily even in habitat.  I can't say about the second one, but both don't seem to have the recurved leaves (bendng towards the ground) like reclinatas.  https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Phoenix_reclinata

So the mystery continues.  I guess I'll never know exactly what I have. I do like the way the palm looks though.  It kinda looks like a coconut, not quite but almost.  Thanks sonoranfans for your input.  One question, if I plant the seeds that I collected from the tree will I get another palm that looks like the parent or can it look different?

[sonoranfans]

Reyes, the progeny will depend on the pollen donor.  You may not know till it grow out.