This Dypsis leptocheilos was planted in July 1994. It has survived freezes, hurricanes and falling trees. It was planted under the canopy of an old Laurel Oak. It suffered some cold damage during the cold winter of 2009-10. Then in 2010 half the tree broke off and stripped all the fronds off. It regrew somewhat. Then in May 2011 the rest of the tree broke apart and once again stripped all the leaves off. It was stunted last summer for a while (along with a tall D. lastelliana near it). It has now regrown. It is over 20ft tall. A great survivor !

That IS a real survivor! Any chance of seeing the D. lastelliana? Thanks!

What a survivor! It really looks great.

That IS a real survivor! Any chance of seeing the D. lastelliana? Thanks!

Yes, I wanted to but the bamboo clupm has some leaning canes I need to prune first. They are leaning right to the palm.

It is the trunk straight back behind the D. leptocheilos. The short clump right behind it is a D. madagascariensis. It had a few trunks about 10ft tall and was crushed but has reemerged. The big leafed palm to the right is an Arenga westerhoutii. It suffered broken fronds but luckily the trunk wasn't broken. The main casualty was a perfect 10ft clump of Dypsis baronii. It never came back from the roots. Also killed the 15ft Elaeis guineensis that had been severely damaged in the winter of 2009-10 and I thought was dead but had just started growing back in early 2011.

Eric, thanks for that photo. That is the nicest looking D. leptocheilos that I have ever seen in Central Florida!

Marvellous, I love a palm survival story, thanks for posting..

Love that westerhouti too..

What a great looking D. leptocheilos Eric! Never thought I'd see one that size in central Florida, Ed

What's the tree under it to the right? Looks Oraniopsis

the big one to the right but behind is Arenga westerhoutii, the smaller is an unknown Butia from Paraguay.

Impressive what has survived that far north. How do you tell a Dypsis leptocheilos from the D. lastelliana? I have a couple of teddy bears but they where from a big box store and only labeled with the common name. One is seeding quite heavily now, should be ripe in a week or two.

They look similar as aduts. The D. lastelliana has been a bit more sensitive to cold. It also has the "heel" when younger and seems slower growing when young.

Back when D. leptocheilos was first getting common and was being sold under the name D. lastelliana, that was what I was told to look for. If it had a heel it was "true" D. lastelliana (which was rare), no heel it was actually D. leptocheilos (which was what was in the nursery trade in FL).

Back when D. leptocheilos was first getting common and was being sold under the name D. lastelliana, that was what I was told to look for. If it had a heel it was "true" D. lastelliana (which was rare), no heel it was actually D. leptocheilos (which was what was in the nursery trade in FL).

Thanks for posting this Eric. Clears something up for me. Looks like I have lastelliana.

Jason

Back when D. leptocheilos was first getting common and was being sold under the name D. lastelliana, that was what I was told to look for. If it had a heel it was "true" D. lastelliana (which was rare), no heel it was actually D. leptocheilos (which was what was in the nursery trade in FL).

Thanks for posting this Eric. Clears something up for me. Looks like I have lastelliana.

Jason

Just to be sure Jason, as Eric said, lastelliana is rare. "some" lepto's will start to sorta form a heel if left in the pot waaayy to long. The leaves will also tend to have a more "upright characteristic.." on a lastelliana.

Back when D. leptocheilos was first getting common and was being sold under the name D. lastelliana, that was what I was told to look for. If it had a heel it was "true" D. lastelliana (which was rare), no heel it was actually D. leptocheilos (which was what was in the nursery trade in FL).

Thanks for posting this Eric. Clears something up for me. Looks like I have lastelliana.

Jason

Just to be sure Jason, as Eric said, lastelliana is rare. "some" lepto's will start to sorta form a heel if left in the pot waaayy to long. The leaves will also tend to have a more "upright characteristic.." on a lastelliana.

And like stated above, D. lastelliana is rarely seen compared to D. lepto and does grow much slower.

Mine has a well developed heel that is buried in its pot. I can't really say how upright the leaves are compared to leptocheilos. Not a fast grower, but not the slowest thing I have either. Online images of lastellianas don't really look like what I have. I'll post some photos in the morning. I'd like to read your opinions.

Jason

Are there hybrids between these two similar species ?

Several of us have speculated that there are..

Eric, great palm. I didn't realize they would grow so tall. I have three small ones in my garden and I thought I was going to have to move them...after seeing this I can leave them where they are, wait 10 or 12 years, and they'll be fine!

Peter