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Spiny palms for zone 9


dalmatiansoap

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I need an advice about spiny palms for zone 9.

Any recomendations? I dont even know for sure is there a chance to grow them in zone 9?

Thanks

:greenthumb:

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If you can grow there a Syagrus romanzoffiana, then Acrocomia totai ( you know the cold hardy form usually found in Florida) should be also OK. Problem is only how to make sure that the Acrocomia (plant or seed) you get is the real deal (totai).

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Acrocomia aculeata is hardy in zone 9b with partial defoliation in the mid 20's. I would guess it is trunk/bud hardy well into the lower 20's.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Thomas Sheehan had what I believe is a Acrocomia aculeata in his yard in Gainesville,FL zone 8b for many years-on cold years it would get foliage damage .So it is likely to be a good choice for zone 9. However I understand that there is some variation and confusion with the ole Gru Gru ;) If you set you sights much lower Rhapidophyllum hystrix is ironclad cold hardy in zone 9 and sure has some great needle spines ;)

Edited by DavidMac
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Plectocomia himalyana is somewhat difficult to grow in humid climates with warm nighttime temperatures. The more tropical Plectocomia do better with the heat and humidity but have little cold tolerance.

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

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Thanks guys.

Do they sell online Rafael?

Ante, I bought mine from a german (delivery) broker called Hubert Steininger and his firma was called Tropen Express in Passau Germany (tel. 851 81831, fax 851 87487). He used to import from Florida every summer the plants, that people ordered in Europe. The floridian firm was called The Green Escape in Palm Harbor and apparently it was working like the Canarius.

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Plectocomia himalyana is somewhat difficult to grow in humid climates with warm nighttime temperatures. The more tropical Plectocomia do better with the heat and humidity but have little cold tolerance.

Agree, I have had the same experience here in Greece. During the same freeze Plectocomia didn't make it, while Acrocomia did.

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Plectocomia himalyana is somewhat difficult to grow in humid climates with warm nighttime temperatures. The more tropical Plectocomia do better with the heat and humidity but have little cold tolerance.

I agree, but for Ante's Croatian mediterranean climate it might be a good fit.

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Its absolute high heat and and almost zero humidity in the warmest Summer months here

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Trithrinax acanthacoma is probably the most reliable and hardy spiny palm for 9a. Has nice stiff leaves like some copernicias. The older leaves droop below horizontal, showing off their perfect geometry. From photos it's easy to pass this one over assuming it's too similar to a Trachy. When I first saw this one in person, it was much more apparent how unique this palm is. It's relatively fast growing. If you clean it up by clipping the leaf petiole stubs flush with the trunk, it shows off the cross-hatched fiber covering and the spines very nicely. Great palm to shine a small spotlight on and project it's silhouette onto a wall. I've never seen any damage down to -6ºC/21ºF not even small seedlings. Supposedly hardy to 12-15ºF so should be no problem in 9a Croatia.

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Livistona saribus

Carambeí, 2nd tableland of the State Paraná , south Brazil.

Alt:1030m. Native palms: Queen, B. eriospatha, B. microspadix, Allagoptera leucocalyx , A.campestris, Geonoma schottiana, Trithrinax acanthocoma. Subtr. climate, some frosty nights. No dry season. August: driest month. Rain:1700mm

 

I am seeking for cold hardy palms!

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Some CALAMUS species are hardy.. to the low 20's and even upper teens... and they are exotic looking

Phoenix Area, Arizona USA

Low Desert...... Zone 9b

Jan ave 66 high and 40 low

July ave 105 high and 80 low

About 4 to 8 frost a year...ave yearly min temp about 27F

About 8 inches of rain a year.

Low Desert

Phoenix.gif

Cool Mtn climate at 7,000'

Parks.gif

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This one is in a zone 9b Ellenton FL it has survived the low 20s

post-1930-0-70131200-1364781074_thumb.jp

post-1930-0-85052600-1364781137_thumb.jp

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Some CALAMUS species are hardy.. to the low 20's and even upper teens... and they are exotic looking

Which one please?

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This one is in a zone 9b Ellenton FL it has survived the low 20s

Erik, is this the real Acrocomia totai? It seems to me so!

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Erik! Oh my gosh!!! That is just so incredible :drool: x infinity!

Shirleypt.png

There are several mature Wodyetia bifurcata in my neighborhood--that helps determine my zone, right? :blink:

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When I first saw it I thought it was a odd queen palm and wanted to get the pollen from it. I pass it everyday when I am in Florida. I asked the owner of the palm what it was and she had a spanish name for it. She said her son brought her two of them from paraquay. I assumed it was a Acrocomia aculeata. Is there a difference between that and Acrocomia totai? It has only grown a foot in the last 4 years and I have never seen it burned. She told me I could have the seeds from it but it has never put a inflorescence off since I have been observing it.

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Some CALAMUS species are hardy.. to the low 20's and even upper teens... and they are exotic looking

Which one please?

i have a small calamus caryotoides that saw 26F with zero damage. from what i know its one of the hardiest too. i also have acrocomia sp. (no idea which one) that also saw 26f with no damage at all and grows like a rocket. last year when i got it it was about a foot and a half tall now its about 5 foot.

"it's not dead it's sleeping"

Santee ca, zone10a/9b

18 miles from the ocean

avg. winter 68/40.avg summer 88/64.records 113/25

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When I first saw it I thought it was a odd queen palm and wanted to get the pollen from it. I pass it everyday when I am in Florida. I asked the owner of the palm what it was and she had a spanish name for it. She said her son brought her two of them from paraquay. I assumed it was a Acrocomia aculeata. Is there a difference between that and Acrocomia totai? It has only grown a foot in the last 4 years and I have never seen it burned. She told me I could have the seeds from it but it has never put a inflorescence off since I have been observing it.

I am not a botanist, but I have two Acrocomia outplanted, one bought many years ago as totai and another raised from seed (I do not remember exactly as totai or aculeata), Anyway they look so different and have also somewhat different growth habit. The totai is slow grower with short leaves and petioles, thus having a more spherical crown (like the one in the above picture), while the other is faster grower with much longer petioles and longer leaves. The totai is fairly cold hardy the other not so.

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Well I looked it up and I believe you are right. One of the common names for this palm is Mbocaya. Which is what she called it.

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Some CALAMUS species are hardy.. to the low 20's and even upper teens... and they are exotic looking

Which one please?

i have a small calamus caryotoides that saw 26F with zero damage. from what i know its one of the hardiest too. i also have acrocomia sp. (no idea which one) that also saw 26f with no damage at all and grows like a rocket. last year when i got it it was about a foot and a half tall now its about 5 foot.

I have also a multi-stemmed C. caryotoides (that's why it escaped final death during 2004 clod spell), which now starts flowering on older and longer stem. What about other Calamus spss, such as muelleri, australis, moti and erectus?

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Well I looked it up and I believe you are right. One of the common names for this palm is Mbocaya. Which is what she called it.

This is the common name in northern Argentina, while in Bolivia it is called totai. Those areas together with Paraguay are all adjacent of one to another forming the southernmost expansion area of Acrocomia.

Edited by Phoenikakias
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I found 2 Acrocomia totai in the neighbour county of Ponta Grossa. Both were growing at the side of two different roads,far from the city and any farm or house.

I´m still wondering how they appeared there ............

Carambeí, 2nd tableland of the State Paraná , south Brazil.

Alt:1030m. Native palms: Queen, B. eriospatha, B. microspadix, Allagoptera leucocalyx , A.campestris, Geonoma schottiana, Trithrinax acanthocoma. Subtr. climate, some frosty nights. No dry season. August: driest month. Rain:1700mm

 

I am seeking for cold hardy palms!

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worthless_without_pics.gif

:drool:

Hi Ante can you tell the difference between the Acrocomia in following pics and define which is which? Exemplary 1:post-6141-0-80673900-1365522270_thumb.jp Exemplary 2 :post-6141-0-62541000-1365522326_thumb.jp

Side by side:post-6141-0-65546900-1365522481_thumb.jppost-6141-0-00108000-1365522618_thumb.jp

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

Anybody ever find a source for totai seedlings?

David Simms zone 9a on Highway 30a

200 steps from the Gulf in NW Florida

30 ft. elevation and sandy soil

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David, good question. I've looked hi and low here in California with zero results. I heard they were very hard to germinate?? If you find any let me know.

Carlsbad, California Zone 10 B on the hill (402 ft. elevation)

Sunset zone 24

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Anybody ever find a source for totai seedlings?

David, you may want to follow up with whoever bought seeds from Darold here http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/33224-more-seeds-from-argentina/

Acrocomia totai is not widely accepted as a separate species from Acrocomia aculeata. For example Andrew Henderson's "Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas" includes it in A. aculeata. Another well known palm botanist expressed doubt about that to me in a private conversation as well. In either case - separate species or not A. totai would be a more cold hardy variety simply because it experiences freezes in habitat. And what's important to know to add to the link above is that if A. totai is a species of it own, then it would encompass all populations of Acrocomia in Argentina and surely would include the seeds that Darold distributed.

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This is a photo of Acrocomia totai I took last month in Iguazu Nation Park in Argentina. Sadly I did not collect any seeds from this species.

post-3501-0-78063300-1421480681_thumb.jp

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Trithrinax acanthacoma is probably the most reliable and hardy spiny palm for 9a. Has nice stiff leaves like some copernicias. The older leaves droop below horizontal, showing off their perfect geometry. From photos it's easy to pass this one over assuming it's too similar to a Trachy. When I first saw this one in person, it was much more apparent how unique this palm is. It's relatively fast growing. If you clean it up by clipping the leaf petiole stubs flush with the trunk, it shows off the cross-hatched fiber covering and the spines very nicely. Great palm to shine a small spotlight on and project it's silhouette onto a wall. I've never seen any damage down to -6ºC/21ºF not even small seedlings. Supposedly hardy to 12-15ºF so should be no problem in 9a Croatia.

Thanks to Axel, I have Trithinax acanthacoma in the ground. It is still small, maybe 30 inches tall and not fully established, but it sailed through the 24 degree low.

In my post I sometimes express "my" opinion. Warning, it may differ from "your" opinion. If so, please do not feel insulted, just state your own if you wish. Any data in this post is provided 'as is' and in no event shall I be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, damages resulting from accuracy or lack thereof, insult, or any other damages

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This one is in a zone 9b Ellenton FL it has survived the low 20s

Actually the ones in that yard were planted after 2010. Until then the yard was full of coconuts (some of them looked like they were going to survive but got the chainsaw anyway). Check out this old view from google maps:

http://goo.gl/ZdXzcq

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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  • 1 month later...

Check out the freeze data forum for information on my Acrocomia aculeata that didn't survive three nights of 21-23*F in 2010. I think I posted pictures of its removal in the main forum. I'd provide a link but it's not so easy from my phone.

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