Rhapis, revisited

[PalmGuyWC]

As an indoor, container grown, palm I can think of nothing eaiser and better to grow in the palm faimly than Rhapis, yet this group of palms seems to be largely neglected and ignored by palm enthueasist. I suppose most palm collectors have one stuck away somewhere in their garden, but these palms can make a real "statement" in a garden if given a nice visable place.

They are tough and durable and will take tempatures down to the low 20's (F) without damage.  They endure neglect for years, but grow nicely if given ample moisture and some nutrients.  They are always happy in that shadey corner of your garden with ample moisture.

I've been growing them for years, but it's a very lonely hobby, because most people don't seem to be that interested in them.  I suppose it's because they are slow growing, and some can be VERY expensive, in fact the most expensive palms on earth.

In recent years many new species have been introduced and there are new cultivars making their apperance from time to time. The Japaneese have a Kannonchicku society devoted strictly for Rhapis and growing a choice Rhapis speciman has become an art form in Japan.  They even have special pots designed just for Rhapis.

One of the interesting things about Rhapis is that they are so variable and mutate so eaisly.  There are over 100 different varieties of R. excelsa, some verigated and some all green.  Some of the verigated ones can fetch thousands of dollars considering their rarity and the quality of the plant.

In recent years Rhapis multifida has come into culture.  It's a delicate looking palm with very narrow leaf blades and many of them.  It's fairly common in Florida now, and I suppose other places where it will grow outside.  Mine got cold tested recently and it came through 25F with no damage or apparent stress, but it was growing under lathe.

A new hybrid created by Louis Hooper in S. Cal is exquisite.  It's a cross between R. Laoensis and R Humilus.  It grows twice as fast as my other Rhapis, and has hybrid vigor.  It is absolutely exquisite in form and beauty.

Another new variety is one that Jeff had for sale at the S. Fla. palm sale in Nov.  It's described as a "Thailand cultivar," It looks to me as being a very drarf R. subtilus.  Whatever it is.....It's a true dwarf, and I love it.  Mine is gracing my kitchen table where it gets the most low sun angle winter light and some warmth.

Let's hear about your Rhapis experiences.

Dick

[Kathy]

Dick, I finally have some shade to add these to my garden this spring, but as I've asked before here,  do you know anything about their tolerance of very hard water?  I'll be trying them anyway, but I remember reading somewhere that they do not tolerate hard water.  Mine is as hard as it gets, so I'll probably try a small one.  Suggestions on which to try first?  If it doesn't like the water, I'll have to stick with them indoors.

[SubTropicRay]

Dick,

I've noticed over the years how big specimens can become in tiny pots.  For example, there was a market vendor in Hilo (2004 Biennial) selling these 4-5 foot tall specimens.  Most were tightly packed clumps growing happily in 3 gallon containers!  That's just an observation that left quite an impression on me.  

Ray

[Dave-Vero]

Here in Florida, at plant sales I see Rhapis that's split its pot (liner, actually).  Usually the vendors are selling them off rather than repot, but the underground root and stem masses can be remarkable.  I installed a Rhapis bed this fall, using a big R. excelsa (I think) that was a great bargain at $75 (Palm Beach County sale--it barely fit my Focus wagon), a couple  of smaller-growing hybrids, a couple of R. laosensis from Searle Brothers, and a couple of miscellaneous ones.  The disparity in prices between plant/palm sales and the  big box hardware stores is amazing, not to mention that with a bit of effort you can get goodies like R. laosesensis, which looks like it'll be a lovely yard plant.  

Vero Beach has some huge long-established Rhapis patches.  

It's interesting to see little patches of Rhapis in corners of courtyard gardens in Kyoto's Zen temples.  The climate is fairly mild (I need to go back to look for what I think is Sabal causiarum on a main street), but it's distinctly temperate.  They freeze and get snow!

[Jeff Searle]

(Ray, Tampa @ Jan. 05 2007,12:55)

QUOTE

Dick,

I've noticed over the years how big specimens can become in tiny pots.  For example, there was a market vendor in Hilo (2004 Biennial) selling these 4-5 foot tall specimens.  Most were tightly packed clumps growing happily in 3 gallon containers!  That's just an observation that left quite an impression on me.  

Ray

Ray,

    I have seen this many times down here in my area. Usually it's when a grower digs a section out of a large clump in the ground and jams it into a pot. It appears that it was growing in that pot for years, when it might only have been there for a month.

 PS...I'll try to post a pic. of this small dwarf Raphis.

Jeff

[SubTropicRay]

Jeff,

Is it Superdwarf?  I got one from Floribunda last year.

[chris.oz]

In our climate R. excelsa will not tolerate sun at all.   However R. humilis does.  I was lucky enough to find some of these in wine barrels in a local nursery and broke one of them up.  They actually tolerate our sun.... not blazing all day sun,  but 2-3 hours of it.  It is also a faster grower than R. excelsa The trouble with R. humilis is the lack of seed availability.   Its the best form of Rhapis for the garden, IMO,  but is relatively hard to get.

[PalmGuyWC]

Hi Kathy,

I wouldn't be to concrrned about hard water, as the water I use in my back  garden is hard water from my well.  None of the palms seem to complain, except if you use a sprinkler as I do, the fonds will get coated with a "glaze" and it doesn't wash off. I don't think any of the palms are particular about what kind of water they get, so long as they get it in the summer when it's hot and dry.  Sometimes I just let a hose run and flood an area, maybe once a month in the summer.

Rhapis do need overhead protection from the sun in our area as they do yellow and burn in our hot summer heat. the more shade you can give them, the better.

Dick

[eastern.nurseries]

As an indoor, container grown, palm I can think of nothing eaiser and better to grow in the palm faimly than Rhapis, ...Let's hear about your Rhapis experiences.

Dick

Dick,

Iagree with you. I have been growing palms for many years and have collected and planted many different ones but the Rhapis palm is clearly the winner for its durability as an indoor, container grown plant. I first became interested in these palms when I started growing the excelsa in our production nursery in the 80's and noted (due to seed variability) the differences within the seedlings. There were variations on the leaf form, shape, colour and even texture. I still have one of the earlier Rhapis I grew as a seedling in a 4 inch pot and it is now 20 years old. Every couple of years I take to it with the hand saw, lol, and cut the base off the root mass- then jam it back in the pot- with no mix!! It does not seem to resent this behaviour. In the last 4 years I have not root pruned it instead I buried the 4" pot in an 8" pot of 3/4inch road base. This year it has flowered for the first time on the original cane. The flower is 2" long on a cane 18" tall.

All rhapis can be dwarfed. The Japanese have perfected this art in culture. This is our 20 year old rhapis.Rhapis excelsa bonsai

The Rhapis excelsa, humilis and subtilis have all been surviving very well inground  in our home garden for well over 15 years. We have planted excelsa in areas where they receive full sun and whilst they look a little ragged they are thriving. We also planted some on our creek where they have been under water for a few days but they catch all the silt deposited after the flood and seem to love it.

The variegated rhapis have been the most challenging plants I have ever grown. It has taken me many years to learn how to grow these palms well and am always learning. To me they represent nature at its best

Jon

[Walter John]

any photos Jon ? and welcome here, nice to see another SE Queenslander on board the board.

[Walter John]

here's my ingrown rhaphis, next to chammies.

[Kamipalms]

As Dick said , they can be verrrrrrry expensive but very easy to grow and as long as you don't freeze the root ball solid, they will grow in just about any climate.

Jon, welcome

I also scare the pants off people when I physically tear a V'gated  plant to pieces with my bare hands  - aaarrrrghhhh! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??

They are very tough and take more that just a bit of abuse.

Heres one of my favourites;

Jason.

[Palmarum]

Rhapis sp. and cultivars have always been favorites of mine, for the longest time. One of their finest attributes is their adaptability, which is fantastic in most situations. This is what makes them so good for indoor use. I have one good sized variegated cultivar, 'Chiyodazuru' which has been growing quite well.

- Pictures of the aformentioned Super Dwarf Rhapis, Rhapis excelsa cv. nana, taken at Jeff Searle's nursery a few months ago, before the biennial. These plants are in 1 gallon (4.4liter) pots and are about 8 inches (20.3cm) tall. So far this is as big as they get. Older plants will probably exceed this after a long time, but not by much.

- A close-up of the leaf bases and stems, with an ultra-fine sharpie marker for scale. Sorry for the poor depth-of-field, I had to hand-hold the camera.

Ryan

[eastern.nurseries]

Thanks for the warm welcome. These are a few recent rhapis photos.

Eizannishiki / Mangetsunotakara

Tiazannishiki / Heiseinishiki

Nanzannishiki

Nanzannishiki

Home Garden

[PalmGuyWC]

Thanks for those nice photographs.  Those variegated ones look perfectly grown and nice nishiki containers too.

The new dwarf cultivar that Jeff has looks to me to be a variety of R Subtilis as it has no rhizomes and all the "canes" grow from one central point.  I was going to divide mine when I got it home but it looked impossible without distrubing the plant to much.

Jeff do you know if these plants were seed grown or from divisions, and Jeff, a few years ago you had a super small variety of Rhapis that looked like tuffs of grass. I'm wondering if the recent cultivar is the same?

I have another hybrid that was done by Louis Hooper in S. Cal.  It's a cross between Multifida and Humilus.  They are not as robust as the Laoensis X humilus cross and look more like R. multifida than humilus.  Since there are no known females of R. humilus in cultivation, back crossing with R. humilus several times might produce a plant that looks like R. humilus and some female plants too.  Of course this would take about 3 life times to do.

My R. multifida X humilus crosses are only 1 gal size, but one is begining to grow a couple of new pups.  They seem to be more vigerous as they get older.  They were difficult to get past the seedling stage.

The variegated ones certainly can be a challange.  It's taken me over 30 years to finally get choice pups from R. nanzannishiki and R. eizannishiki.  I had about given up on my R. nanzannishiki.  I had an old cane that must have been close to 30 years old, and it was about 90% white with very little green.  It would only grow about two fronds a year and since it was an old cane I didn't expect any more pups from it. It was so pitiful looking, I almost put it in the trash heap, but instead I repoted it.  Much to my surprise in about a year or so, it grew a perfect choice pup with excellent variegation.  I removed the pup when it had 5 fronds on it, and now, it looks almost identical to the one pictured above.

You never know what surprises you might get from a variegated Rhapis.  It's very rare that you will get a perfect pup. This is the reason some can be so expensive.

Dick

[eastern.nurseries]

For the last couple of years I've been getting rhapis humilis seed from an old Japanese fellow in Southern Japan. The seed was purple skinned! Here is a picture of one of the seedlings.  The plant is three years from seed- the rate of germination was extremely poor.What do you think? I'm led to believe that during the Japanese occupation of China the Japanese Samurai systematically removed nearly all female Rhapis humilis plants back to Japan along with many excelsa types such as tenzan, shippoden, and others which no longer exist in China (in the wild).

[Palmarum]

PalmGuyWC

It would only grow about two fronds a year and since it was an old cane I didn't expect any more pups from it. It was so pitiful looking, I almost put it in the trash heap, but instead I repoted it.  Much to my surprise in about a year or so, it grew a perfect choice pup with excellent variegation.  I removed the pup when it had 5 fronds on it, and now, it looks almost identical to the one pictured above.You never know what surprises you might get from a variegated Rhapis.  It's very rare that you will get a perfect pup. This is the reason some can be so expensive.

Dick

I try not to give up on any Rhapis, or palm for that matter, just for the challenge. My R. 'Chiyodazuru' sent up a pup with a single broad stripe down the middle of it's newest leaf about a year ago. This stripe is reminiscent of 'Kinshi', the ancestor to 'Chiyodazuru'. I was surprised to see it, however the single, thicker stripe never appeared again on another leaf. So it's always fun to watch what might show up on a new pup.

Ryan

[alan.oz]

(PalmGuyWC @ Jan. 06 2007,07:58)

QUOTE

The variegated ones certainly can be a challange.  It's taken me over 30 years to finally get choice pups from R. nanzannishiki and R. eizannishiki.  I had about given up on my R. nanzannishiki.  I had an old cane that must have been close to 30 years old, and it was about 90% white with very little green.  It would only grow about two fronds a year and since it was an old cane I didn't expect any more pups from it. It was so pitiful looking, I almost put it in the trash heap, but instead I repoted it.  Much to my surprise in about a year or so, it grew a perfect choice pup with excellent variegation.  I removed the pup when it had 5 fronds on it, and now, it looks almost identical to the one pictured above.

Dick

Is it possible to tissue culture variegated rhapis? Might be a better way to propagate rather than wait years to get a good pup.

[PalmGuyWC]

I don't believe that Rhapis can be tissue cultured.  If they could be the prices might come down. I'm afraid the only way to get a choice variegated pup is the old fashioned way.....first, have a good plant to start with, then fingers crossed and wait half a life time, and of course, good cultural practices.

Jason, I know what you mean by "ripping" an old root ball apart.  I usually divide, and remove pups in April (Spring) before they are activelly growing to much.  This gives the plants time to re-establish before the summer heat.

Removing the pups away from the mother plant can be very tedious, and I do it very carefully and try not to damage the roots.  I wash all the soil off the roots first, then carefully pull the roots apart.  I usually escape with 90% of the roots intact and I favor the roots on the new pups rather than the mother plant. I keep the roots moist at all times and put the pups in a pail of water and try to pot them as soon as possible.  I get very "up tight" when I'm working on a valueable variegated plant and sometimes it can take 2 hours for me to seperate a plant.

My favorite Japaneese green is Taiheiden.  I love it's heavy textured, wide leaf blades, and often the fat pups will emerge at the edge of the pot and they are easy to divide once the soil is washed away from the roots.  Growing the Rhapis cultivars is addictive, but it takes a lot of patience and time.

Dick

Dick

[PalmGuyWC]

Jon,

The photograph of your seed grown "R. humilis" looks like a R. multifitida to me.  Supposedly, there are only male R. humilis in cultivation and a female has never been documented.  If you find one, it would be a VERY vauleable plant.

Dick

[Jeff Searle]

Jon,

 You have a sweet collection of Rhapis.

 Ryan,

   Thanks for putting up the Rhapis Super Dwarf picture for me.

Jeff

[chris.oz]

(PalmGuyWC @ Jan. 07 2007,07:40)

QUOTE

Jon,

The photograph of your seed grown "R. humilis" looks like a R. multifitida to me.  Supposedly, there are only male R. humilis in cultivation and a female has never been documented.  If you find one, it would be a VERY vauleable plant.

Dick

Dick,

As I recall Laura Hastings of Kew,  who wrote a revision of Rhapis in the Palms magazine last year claims both male and female R. humilis exist,  and the location of the females is Mt. Omei in China.

[PalmGuyWC]

Wow!  That's news to me.  I guess I'm not reading my Palms thouroughly.

Dick

[DoomsDave]

Jon!

Welcome aboard!

You certainly have exquisite Rhapis.  Until I saw your pictures, I didn't really appreciate how pretty they really are.

Too bad it's so hard to import stuff to the U.S.

dave

[DoomsDave]

Here's my R. humilis, full shade on the north of my house.  From a five gallon pot, about three years ago.

[DoomsDave]

And here is what I think is another humilis in full sun:

[chris.oz]

Dave,

The one in shade may be R. multifida. Longer and thinner leaflets than R. humilis and  I think the stem diameter is different.  Do you have the Hastings revision in one of the Palms 2005 issues ?  Cant lay my hands on it right now.

[eastern.nurseries]

Is it possible to tissue culture variegated rhapis? Might be a better way to propagate rather than wait years to get a good pup.

I think, eventually, they will be able to tissue culture Rhapis but I doubt they will be able to "fix" the variegation form. As you know every leaf is different in pattern.

I had an old cane that must have been close to 30 years old, and it was about 90% white with very little green.  It would only grow about two fronds a year and since it was an old cane I didn't expect any more pups from it. It was so pitiful looking, I almost put it in the trash heap, but instead I repoted it.  Much to my surprise in about a year or so, it grew a perfect choice pup with excellent variegation.

I know exactly what you mean! My most white, burnt and half diseased Nanzannishiki's can produce choice pups. I've noticed plants that are more green tend to lose the variegation in the suckers.

[SubTropicRay]

Great photos.  The variegations are striking.

[eastern.nurseries]

Thank you for the kind comments and I am glad you enjoyed the pictures. These are some photos of Variegated humilis. Shokanishiki is a hybrid of humilis x excelsa. Its variegation is yellow. There is also a white form called sankonishiki.

This is an old variety that produces a fine variegation with a distinctive blush on the new fronds.

Hakuseiden is the classic white variegated humilis. It is really hard to grow and even harder to produce a good cane from yet typically has always appeared in the top ten of the Kansokai

[lyle-turner]

WoW nice Rhapis ill take some pick's of my baby's tomorow and post them =)

[PalmGuyWC]

Hi Lyle,

I thought this old thread had been retired.  We are looking forward to seeing your babies.

An update:  In the recent California freeze, I neglected to take some of my potted rhapis inside and they were exposed to at least 25 F and maybe 23 F., but under lathe.  The top 1/3 inch of the soil in the pots was frozen solid.  I have detected no damage to those palms.  They looks just as good as the ones I took inside.  The ones growing outside in the ground also look fine.

Dick

[Rafael]

My 50 cents with this multifida!

Edited August 2, 2010 by rafael

[Tassie_Troy1971]

RAFAEL --- you are the king of BuMP !!!

Nice Rhapis though !

[Tassie_Troy1971]

RAFAEL --- you are the king of BuMP !!!

Nice Rhapis though !

[Kailua_Krish]

Does anyone know anything about culture and growth habits of Rhapis laosensis or "Koban"? I looked around the internet but wasnt able to find out a ton about them. I'm especially interested in knowing the cold tolerance of laosensis.

-Krishna

[Mike Evans]

I have always been fascinated w/ Rhapis. A few pics from the garden.

R. koban seems to be relatively fast so far, for a Rhapis.

Super dwarf R. lilliputiana. I am afraid to put this in the ground. It may get trampled.

[Mike Evans]

A few more. R. multifida.

R. subtilis. A little cold damage showing.

Small variegated Rhapis.

[tew]

Is it just my computer or is anyone else trying to subscribe to this thread but unable to do so?

[etan]

Nooooo tewreef, it seems that time has past for rhapis... and tofu... and in Japan the rock bands are as popular as ever....