Garden Moment with Ptychosperma and Licuala

[Palmarum]

- I went over to Jeff Searle's residence this past Sunday to take photos and view the production of more drone videos. As Jeff and I were moving through his yard we came across this Ptychosperma waitianum that had not one, not two, but six new red leaves at the same time. It is a unique event to see a few simultaneously emerging leaves, but six on the same clump is a new level of wow. The palm is about 13 feet (4m) in height and I was standing on a ladder trying to get all the red leaves in one photo but it was tricky.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- With Jeff holding the stems from below, we tried to arrange the crowns in a way to get all the leaves to line up.

- One of my all-time favorite species of Ptychosperma, this species has blood-red emergent leaves, fishtail shaped leaflets and a compact habit.

- The clump has been mature for a while and has yielded seed on a regular basis.

Ryan

[Cindy Adair]

Simply magnificent! A wonderful palm, beautifully grown and photographed!

[Palmarum]

- Jeff had been clearing out a section near the area of the yard known as Palm Circle when he opened up space near this Licuala sp. 'Wilailak'; a palm that has continued to be a bit of a mystery. We began to discuss the palm as we still don't know more about it, beyond its origin story. Its upright growth, extended petioles and large leaves sets it apart from known species, except for a few similarities with Licuala peltata var. sumawongii.

- This palm, along with other specimens of the same batch, have flowered and set seed. The inflorescences, flowers and seed are identical to those of L. peltata var. sumawongii. The leaves are quite large and match the size of the aforementioned variety. If you were to glue the segments together it would look very similar to those solid Sumawongii leaves we enjoy so often.

- The rest of the crown extends upward beyond the image and the base has yet to form much of an above-ground trunk, so it sets the scale as a hefty, large Licuala. We were thinking it could be another variety of L. peltata or a form of L. peltata var. sumawongii.

- A closer view of the base, with clippers for scale. It also has the same mean petiole spines that are found on L. peltata var. sumawongii. Since it has flowered there have been new ideas about its identity, but we are still looking for more information. I posted the photos to see if anyone else has come up with any new information.

Ryan

[tikitiki]

That Licuala is amazing

[Mandrew968]

If the flowers are Identical, then you have your answer.