Ed, I'm sure the Kew palm project based in Mad. must have collected more material since the publication of PoM. In fact I know Dransfield found a new healthy population and I think also took specimens. It's frustrating not to have an updated botanical description, particularly flowers and fruit and some more pictures of juveniles wouldn't go amiss. I have a video which pans across young plants but doesn't stop long enough to get a decent still.

Thanks Rich, your input is always valuable, Ed

I just went to Palmpedia http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Dypsis_ambositrae and looked at all the pics. There's gotta be at least three different palms in there, all being called D. ambo. Aye Carumba!

I agree with there being at least 3 different ones not including plumosa... Will post pics of my 3 different ones later on today if I can.

I got a couple of the RPS ones.......which one are they?

I got a couple of the RPS ones.......which one are they?

Hey, the ones on this page fom Floribunda, Matty Bradford, and stevo, and I edric, are a few of the true ambo's, one of the real deal habitat shots is top right photo, Ed

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Dypsis_ambositrae

Anyone with the real slow ambositrae, please post updated pics of your palms.  I will post mine tomorrow.  Thanks in advance.

Here’s mine after I planted in at my new place last December. It must be pretty old now, I must’ve got it at least 5 years ago at maybe half the size. After nearly a full growing season since this photo, that spear is still not open although now stands above all other fronds.  So quite slow even for Melbourne standards!

Haven’t planted this one out yet.  It has split and growing slow but steady.   Both fronds opening up right now.  Red petiole is still very prominent.  This is a very old plant.  I have another one planted as a seedling.  It has been in the ground 8 years and is substantially smaller.  I will post pics of it later today. 

This palm was planted in 2012. It was a small seedling.  Very slow, especially since it split.  Definitely picking up speed since I gave it more sun.

Here's a pic of my ambo it's been slow especially when it did split but totally worth it love this Palm

1 hour ago, akamu said:

Here's a pic of my ambo it's been slow especially when it did split but totally worth it love this Palm

Thanks, Adam.  How long has it been in the ground?

Here are my three... been in the ground about 15 years. Always found it interesting that two took off and are 10’ tall, and one is still tiny. Bought same place, same time.

 

 

 

14 hours ago, joe_OC said:

Thanks, Adam.  How long has it been in the ground?

I'm guessing about  12 + years from a 1 gallon . I cant even recall where I got it now.  Time flies when you're growing palms 

This was mine freshly planted in August 2010 and then again from today.  It seemed to start out slow but is making up for it now.

6 hours ago, Randall SD said:

This was mine freshly planted in August 2010 and then again from today.  It seemed to start out slow but is making up for it now.

Absolutely beautiful, what a gem!

On 5/12/2020 at 5:37 PM, Randall SD said:

This was mine freshly planted in August 2010 and then again from today.  It seemed to start out slow but is making up for it now.

Wow that is impressive! Wish mine would kick into gear like that. Hard to beat that in SD for overall form,  size and color.  Just gorgeous!

On 8/2/2013 at 9:39 AM, MattyB said:

Then a couple of years ago, real keen collectors like Len, Bill, Jeff B, etc., kept mentioning another Dypsis ambositrae that was yet again different. This new one being much more tempermental, slower growing, smaller or maybe just smaller compared to the others because it's so slow. If I remember correctly they described it as having the tell tale red petiole, but being even more colorful, a bit stockier or having less of that upright stem when young, still having numerous thin leaflets, but not as long and upright of a frond as the previous palm, and the overall leaf being less upright and more recurved, similar to a miniature red Dypsis decipiens.

When I looked at the start of the thread it was about this slow growing form that has all the characteristics Matty identified above.  I still have am having difficulty distinguishing and am curious what the "more temperamental, slower growing, smaller" form looks like 7 years later.  I have two, one seems more vigorous than the other, and shows more color on the petioles after they open as well as the emerging petiole, however it does get more sun.  Is it the exposure or are they different?  First 3 photos of the more vigorous plant last photo of the less vigorous plant.  I'll have to research how long ago I got them and planted them, but I know it was after remodeling the house in 2014.

50 minutes ago, Tracy said:

When I looked at the start of the thread it was about this slow growing form that has all the characteristics Matty identified above.  I still have am having difficulty distinguishing and am curious what the "more temperamental, slower growing, smaller" form looks like 7 years later.  I have two, one seems more vigorous than the other, and shows more color on the petioles after they open as well as the emerging petiole, however it does get more sun.  Is it the exposure or are they different?  First 3 photos of the more vigorous plant last photo of the less vigorous plant.  I'll have to research how long ago I got them and planted them, but I know it was after remodeling the house in 2014.

Tracy,  yes.  I was hoping to get pics of the slower "ambositrae".   

Update on mine shown at the beginning of this thread.  I planted one out in blazing full sun, hoping to get one that looked like Randall's, but alas a gopher got it.  I should try again.

15 hours ago, MattyB said:

Update on mine shown at the beginning of this thread.  I planted one out in blazing full sun, hoping to get one that looked like Randall's, but alas a gopher got it.  I should try it again.

Thanks for posting the updated photos Matty.  So this one split at some point and I'm guessing it was the "fast" variety you identified in the first post.  Was the one that got chomped by the gopher the "slow" variety you in your second post of this thread?  Do you think that the difference between yours and Randall's is cultural (i.e. Randall's in full sun and yours in canopy of other palms) or different plants?  I personally would lean to different plants altogether.

Tracy, mine did not split, I planted two separate palms in the same hole.  I do believe that Randall's palm and mine are the same palm, just exposed to different conditions.  When mine were in full sun they looked closer to Randall's and then got more wispy  as the canopy grew up around them.

 

Thanks for the updates Matty. Those things have done some serious growing since I saw them last in 2013. Looks like everything around them has blown up too!

i was trying to find my original posts but the search tab was giving me some troubles. i have planted several in my yard. This one was one i obtained from Jerry Anderson as Sp. Kindreo, it struggled for years thanks to the rabbits. 

This one came in to rancho soledad as a 5 gal. which never looked back. its currently on its second flower. hopefully this one will make some viable seed. 

this was purchased from Jeff Marcus as a 1 gal. ambositrae i planted 3 of these in a row and they are all just beginning to trunk. 

Update of the inflo. This thing is massive! 

Info update.... 

On 9/8/2020 at 7:20 PM, DippyD said:

Info update.... 

Did you get any viable seed off this and consequently any little sprouts?

4 hours ago, Tracy said:

Did you get any viable seed off this and consequently any little sprouts?

A ton! I sold off a bunch and kept around a 100 to grow. 

My last "slow" one (pictured) died in 2018. It never looked remotely like the standard form mostly pictured above. I have noticed that the standard form comes in two colours. One bluish and the other light green. The bluer one has a lot of ramenta but the green one almost none.

36 minutes ago, richnorm said:

My last "slow" one (pictured) died in 2018. It never looked remotely like the standard form mostly pictured above. I have noticed that the standard form comes in two colours. One bluish and the other light green. The bluer one has a lot of ramenta but the green one almost none.

What a shame Richard! I am truely sorry, because it was a beauty. Any idea about the reason of death?

11 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

What a shame Richard! I am truely sorry, because it was a beauty. Any idea about the reason of death?

Spear pull. My last of 3 to go the same way.  But I enjoyed the ride.

6 minutes ago, richnorm said:

Spear pull. My last of 3 to go the same way.  But I enjoyed the ride.

No coming back from spear pull then. Were any green leaves still on? Did you attempt to save any of them with peroxide or any other treatment?

On 5/14/2020 at 6:40 PM, Tracy said:

I have two, one seems more vigorous than the other, and shows more color on the petioles after they open as well as the emerging petiole, however it does get more sun.  Is it the exposure or are they different?  First 3 photos of the more vigorous plant last photo of the less vigorous plant.  I'll have to research how long ago I got them and planted them, but I know it was after remodeling the house in 2014.

The form I have in the front seems more compact than some in this string.  One can see that the petiole length before the leaflets start is relatively short.  This one is very compact looking and I would categorize as relatively fast for a mid-size Dypsis.  There isn't quite a two year period between the photo above in 2020 and the current photos below.  It remains very colorful and has very nice deep green leaflets even coming out of winter.  Could the compactness have something to do with the full sun exposure or is it just the way this type grows?

1 hour ago, Tracy said:

 

 

Impressive growth as always @Tracy . I got this one from @Josh-O as a 5G less than a year ago and threw it in the ground promptly. It’s thrown 2 full leaves in the last 8 months and the new spear is twice as thick as the last so I’m happy with that growth rate. As you can see from the close up, the newest spear and previous are very red leading me to believe it is of the slower type of this thread is correct. If you look closer, you can see the pen mark to monitor growth. I marked it prior to leaving on a trip and just returned a couple days ago so that is 14 days of growth. I’m happy with that but seems to muddy the waters of this discussion a little. 
 

-dale

To clarify…..the pen mark on the spear was actually marked on the bottom as it comes out of the crown, NOT in line with the mark on the adjacent frond. That frond has a previous mark. So it’s grown nearly 3” in 14 days. 
 

-dale

21 minutes ago, Billeb said:

I got this one from @Josh-O as a 5G less than a year ago

Mine also came from Josh and as I recall, they were plants he sourced from Floribunda.  The earliest photos I found of both the front and back ones were from Spring of 2016 and similar in size to what you have planted.  You will most certainly be happy with this palm.  March 2016 in back yard next to brick bbq and May 2016 in front in first two photos.

I went out to examine the bare petiole length on the one in my backyard to see if it too had very short petioles.  It is growing in much more shade and filtered light.  Petiole length is a bit longer than the one in the front, which probably can be attributed to the light conditions.  Less light, more stretched, longer bare petiole versus full sun more compact, shorter petiole and even thicker trunk base.  Back one is growing like a saxophone, so no trunk yet, its just pushing its way east.

 

16 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Mine also came from Josh and as I recall, they were plants he sourced from Floribunda

.…… You will most certainly be happy with this palm. 

This is good news. And these two pics look exactly like mine when I got it as it possessed a very yellow “trunk”. That trait has subsided since planting out. Thanks Tracy. 
 

-dale

9 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

No coming back from spear pull then. Were any green leaves still on? Did you attempt to save any of them with peroxide or any other treatment?

Yes,  leaves were perfect in all cases, even the spear looks ok but just stops moving.  I think it was possibly already dead in this photo.  After a while you get suspicious and then that sickening feeling as the spear slides out!  I always try H2O2 but it rarely works.

It sounds like Rhizoctonia