By golly, I do live here! The oldest one came from a friend’s property on the way to Volcano. The palms were scattered among the native tree ferns and can you believe they didn’t particularly like them? At that time I knew nothing about Pritchardia, so I eagerly dug up the smallest one with a borrowed shovel and hauled it home. That task was hernia inducing for sure. Stayed in suspended animation for about two years then took off. 

Naivete can be so awesome in the right situation. 

Tim

I bought this as beccariana about 15 years ago.  It seems to fit  but I would be interested in other views.  The trunk is quite thin for such large leaves.  It's protected by a huge stand of henon bamboo which is flowering so it's going to be a challenge to keep it protected from prevailing winds.

Richard, looks like P. beccariana to me, the shallow divided leaves is a good identifier. Beautifully grown.

Tim

Continuing my posts above, I thought I’d post the imposter P. hillebrantii next to the the real P. beccariana. The growth rate and size are apparent. Some close-ups as well.

Tim 

6 hours ago, richnorm said:

I bought this as beccariana about 15 years ago.  It seems to fit  but I would be interested in other views.  The trunk is quite thin for such large leaves.  It's protected by a huge stand of henon bamboo which is flowering so it's going to be a challenge to keep it protected from prevailing winds.

Yeah Rich, it sure looks like it. Great looking specimen.. Funny, here in my Mediterranean garden, mine has a really heavy trunk. A few months ago I was at a botanical garden in Maui on the road to Hana. The one that I saw there had an extraordinary thin trunk. Otherwise, perfectly happy and healthy looking!

Here is a photo album I made at McBryde and Allerton Gardens in Kauai, Hawaii where I paid extra close attention to labeling each photo correctly! Even at this garden, I feel like some palms were mislabeled, so I did not photograph them.

 Click here for full album

Here is a P. beccariana

 

Here’s one out back; just a massive beast, with a leaf spread of at least 15’. An absolute seed factory, with three generations of seeds, holding at all times. 5 gallon bucket for scale…

3 hours ago, quaman58 said:

Here’s one out back; just a massive beast, with a leaf spread of at least 15’. An absolute seed factory, with three generations of seeds, holding at all times. 5 gallon bucket for scale…

Whoa Bret, that is.a beast! Looks as though someone removed the trunk and left the crown. 

Tim