Cyphosperma TANGA update

[Pedro 65]

Cyphosperma tanga grows in the wild at 2500 feet elevation on Fiji's highest mountain Mt Tomanivi in very steep terrain with high rainfall.

Its "Entire leaves" to 3 mtrs long held on a beautiful chocolate trunk would be a 'sight to behold"

Tanga is on the "critically endangered" list, so if seeds come available again from RPS, buy up as this is many times faster than its cousin Cypho balansae which is very slow to get going.

Arden ( Equatorialexotics) germinated this in 2011 and its been here "in ground" over 2 winters and "Loves it"

Its not still in a pot, I like to raise a bed for planting small palms and as a protector( from bandicoots digging) and to keep the soil up high I like to encircle it with a 400mm pot, of course with the bottom cut off.

Anyway, here it is today with the 400mm pot protector giving scale, exciting times ahead, thanks Arden.

Had to add the pics of adults in the wild off RPS site, thanks Toby.

If your growing Tanga, please show how its doing.

Pete

[Cindy Adair]

Pete, you are certainly fortunate to have one of these! They have been on my wish list for awhile. Please continue to post photos as it grows!

[Pedro 65]

Pete, you are certainly fortunate to have one of these! They have been on my wish list for awhile. Please continue to post photos as it grows!

Cindy, I will gladly post growth updates, and thrilled they love it here, thought they would being a highland palm, i enjoy watching its progress. re fortunate..Absolutely, Im forever grateful to RPS for collecting the seed and selling it, Arden for buying seed, germinating it, growing it , then selling a few to keen enthusiasts. Pete

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Look forward to seeing future updates on this palm Pete !

[Pedro 65]

I will keep you updated Troy, thought Id better go out n put a 3"tube inside the 400 tub, great seeing each new entire leaf larger.

Bill A and Bill S and anyone else that has this Cyphosperma please post some pics and tell how they are doing.

Pete

[LJG]

Lucky dog. I would love to grow this palm.

[Pedro 65]

Lucky dog. I would love to grow this palm.

Has BS got a spare ??

[Bill Austin]

Peter took these this evening I have two in the ground one in full shade and this one which gets two hours of direct sun from 10 to 12 and is much faster than the one in full shade. The palm on the left is prestoea ensiformis entire leaf and is doing quite well these two should look quite when they start to show some wood.

[Pedro 65]

Peter took these this evening I have two in the ground one in full shade and this one which gets two hours of direct sun from 10 to 12 and is much faster than the one in full shade. The palm on the left is prestoea ensiformis entire leaf and is doing quite well these two should look quite when they start to show some wood.

100_7171.jpg

Thanks Bill, wow the prestoea is a looker and your Tanga is loving its spot, mine gets the 1st rays of sunlight for 2 hrs then filtered by s/cloth . Your dog is very obedient posing at each palm you take a pic of , thanks for the update, I look fwd to seeing Prestoea updates down the track from you, has the stem any red? Pete

[LJG]

Looks like the "entire leaf" is going pinnate? I heard this might be the case on these.

[Pedro 65]

Looks like the "entire leaf" is going pinnate? I heard this might be the case on these.

To me its behaving right, after all, its a "near entire" leaf palm just as the RPS pics show. ( even if its called entire) Its very very appealing, I want 3

So we don't go "off the thread," I added a pic a mature Tanga which shows some pinnate ends.."Beautiful" Pete

[Cindy Adair]

Maybe I need 4 instead! Really nice!

[realarch]

Thankfully there were several Cyphosperma available locally not too long ago. Have planted the little guys straight away into the

ground. Of the two C. tanga's one is doing great and one is struggling. It's been a very warm and dry summer here in Hilo and that might have

something to do with the smaller C. tanga trying to establish itself. Of course it could just be just one of those wimpy palms you get now and then.

Here are a few pics.

C.tanga C. tanga

C. trichospadix C.naboutinense

[realarch]

I was going to do a new topic on Prestoea ensiformis, but since they're part of this thread, I'll just post a few photos here.

These have done so much better in the ground and have grown much faster since transplanting. So far so good, looks like these

are going to be a winner. The leaves are large and out of scale with the palm's stature which makes it so attractive. The last pic is with

a water bottle for scale taken a few months back.

Tim

[LJG]

Yeah, looks right Pete. I planted one in the ground here in about the best spot in my yard. Santa Ana winds and Winter approaching. Fingers crossed!

Bill and Tim have all the good stuff

[realarch]

Len, we'll send some good kharma your way. You never know, it might do better than you think even without intermittent brain waves from the pacific.

Tim

[LilikoiLee]

Cyphosperma tanga grows in the wild at 2500 feet elevation on Fiji's highest mountain Mt Tomanivi in very steep terrain with high rainfall.

Its "Entire leaves" to 3 mtrs long held on a beautiful chocolate trunk would be a 'sight to behold"

Tanga is on the "critically endangered" list, so if seeds come available again from RPS, buy up as this is many times faster than its cousin Cypho balansae which is very slow to get going.

Arden ( Equatorialexotics) germinated this in 2011 and its been here "in ground" over 2 winters and "Loves it"

Its not still in a pot, I like to raise a bed for planting small palms and as a protector( from bandicoots digging) and to keep the soil up high I like to encircle it with a 400mm pot, of course with the bottom cut off.

Anyway, here it is today with the 400mm pot protector giving scale, exciting times ahead, thanks Arden.

Had to add the pics of adults in the wild off RPS site, thanks Toby.

If your growing Tanga, please show how its doing.

Pete

Cyphosperma tanga grows in the wild at 2500 feet elevation on Fiji's highest mountain Mt Tomanivi in very steep terrain with high rainfall.

Its "Entire leaves" to 3 mtrs long held on a beautiful chocolate trunk would be a 'sight to behold"

Tanga is on the "critically endangered" list, so if seeds come available again from RPS, buy up as this is many times faster than its cousin Cypho balansae which is very slow to get going.

Arden ( Equatorialexotics) germinated this in 2011 and its been here "in ground" over 2 winters and "Loves it"

Its not still in a pot, I like to raise a bed for planting small palms and as a protector( from bandicoots digging) and to keep the soil up high I like to encircle it with a 400mm pot, of course with the bottom cut off.

Anyway, here it is today with the 400mm pot protector giving scale, exciting times ahead, thanks Arden.

Had to add the pics of adults in the wild off RPS site, thanks Toby.

If your growing Tanga, please show how its doing.

Pete

This palm should definitl

Cyphosperma tanga grows in the wild at 2500 feet elevation on Fiji's highest mountain Mt Tomanivi in very steep terrain with high rainfall.

Its "Entire leaves" to 3 mtrs long held on a beautiful chocolate trunk would be a 'sight to behold"

Tanga is on the "critically endangered" list, so if seeds come available again from RPS, buy up as this is many times faster than its cousin Cypho balansae which is very slow to get going.

Arden ( Equatorialexotics) germinated this in 2011 and its been here "in ground" over 2 winters and "Loves it"

Its not still in a pot, I like to raise a bed for planting small palms and as a protector( from bandicoots digging) and to keep the soil up high I like to encircle it with a 400mm pot, of course with the bottom cut off.

Anyway, here it is today with the 400mm pot protector giving scale, exciting times ahead, thanks Arden.

Had to add the pics of adults in the wild off RPS site, thanks Toby.

If your growing Tanga, please show how its doing.

Pete

Pete,

Big thanks for posting photos and information about the Tanga. It was very helpful!

This palm should be on the top ten list of the world, After seeing your pictures it is number one on my list. Unfortunately I was only bought one because it was the last one at the nursery. ( I usualy buy three of every palm (so I'll have backup if one or two of them die. I bought one in a 1 gal pot because the nursery only had one by the time I got there! Bummer!

I also have the other two species and although they are beautiful they are definitely out shown by the Tanga.

I notice that your palm is in a large pot in comparison to the size of the palm. Is that how you usually plant palms - or something special for this genus/species? Also is it better of in sand?

I hope this post is not is readable. I lost my glasses yesterday while clearning a 20' foot cliff that was covered with dead philodendron roots and tons of dead mulch-like material. My husband looked for them all afternoon without luck. I got some reading glasses but they are not much help so my husband is sitting next to me and correcting about every third word.

Lee

[LilikoiLee]

Peter took these this evening I have two in the ground one in full shade and this one which gets two hours of direct sun from 10 to 12 and is much faster than the one in full shade. The palm on the left is prestoea ensiformis entire leaf and is doing quite well these two should look quite when they start to show some wood.

100_7171.jpg

Peter took these this evening I have two in the ground one in full shade and this one which gets two hours of direct sun from 10 to 12 and is much faster than the one in full shade. The palm on the left is prestoea ensiformis entire leaf and is doing quite well these two should look quite when they start to show some wood.

100_7171.jpg

Hi Bill, I didn't recognize your garden but I did recognize your dog. I then asked Mike if he recognized the garden and he said "It must be Bill's I recognize the dog".

How did you get her to sit stiill long enough to take her picture!

If you have any for sale, call me IMMEDIATELY!!!!! - Never mind I'll call you immediately!

Lee

[Pedro 65]

Tim, wow you have a good collection of Cyphosperma's, the only other I have in ground is Balansae which has been slow but really making some ground now, ( pic below) I look fwd to the 'black" on the c/shaft soon. Wrapped that Tanga is a faster grower. Very glad you posted pics of your P ensiformis, impressive future palm eh

Lee, its been fun starting this thread and good to see your in an "obsessive chase' mode to get or "find" another available Tanga, good luck.

Also Lee, my Tanga is in ground in a small raised bed , the 400mm wide pot has the bottom cut out I push it into the soil to keep the raised bed till its more established and to "protect" it from native bandicoots that like to dig.

Len, good luck with your ensiformis near entire

To all here on PTalk, Jeff emailed these through this morning of his 2007 trip to Fiji ( 1 of many) and as Suchin shows "no seeds " on Tanga which is a common occurrence no doubt due to the non stop rain when its it flower ?

As I said in my 1st post "Im forever grateful" to how I got my Cyphosperma tanga, as we "all are".

Pete

[realarch]

Pete,

Wow, thanks for the photos! I think I've seen them before, but never tire of awesome palm pics.

BTW, what's a Bandicoot? Too lazy to look it up.

Here's another tanga shot with a bottle for scale.

[Pedro 65]

Pete,

Wow, thanks for the photos! I think I've seen them before, but never tire of awesome palm pics.

BTW, what's a Bandicoot? Too lazy to look it up.

Here's another tanga shot with a bottle for scale.

IMG_5157.jpg

Tim, a Bandicoot is a native peaceful mammal of Oz and are the size of a small dog. ( pic below) They come out at night to dig for worms n insects etc, has a great sense of smell and is a very vigour digger, it has "no interest" in eating or damaging palms but its digging can of course "sometimes" be under a small newly planted palm especially if there is plenty of worms to be had.

Thankfully , due to cutting down pioneer trees here there is plenty of decomposing logs that have a good food source of garden cockroaches etc in the logs and worms underneath for the bandicoots to eat happily.

Why do I use a pot still then = Just to be on the safe side, I only use a large pot on something new n rare certainly not "all my plantings".

Now "I know" there are more Tanga's out there for PTalkers to show n tell.

Pete