G'day all,

Butia are generally not the sort of palm I go for but I have just seen one with a big difference to its friends!!

It looks super healthy with a "Lisa" type leaf to it. Has anyone seen one quite a different as this?? I know quite a few on the forum like their butia's so I thought I would share...I did a quick pt search just now and couldn't find 1 quite the same as this, there were threads of other different butia's but they all looked a bit different (older) than this one. Surely there are others out there like it?

A few closer up pics....

And a few comparison pics with it's more usual looking friends...

That's not a "lisa", that's a cross with syagrus.

You are most likely much more knowledgeable than me about these sorts of palms..... is it very normal for the hybrid you mention to look like this? We don't see many of these hybrids around this part of the world!

Sorry I should have put a couple of ?'s in the tag where I wrote "lisa", I am certainly not saying this is without doubt a "lisa", its just the only thing I could think of....

This is the classic signature of a cross with syagrus, when the leaves don't split until later, that's how syagrus behave. When you see a butia seedling doing that, it usually means it crossed. Of course there's no guarantee that what I am claiming is correct, but I think it's a very good educated guess. If it was my batch of seeds, i'd be stoked and I would set it aside and watch it for a while to see how it develops.

The one thing that does seem different is that a mule would normally also already have divided leaves given how thick the base on yours is. So perhaps you are right and it's a "lisa".

Makes sense re the leaf splitting later, will it ever split? Showing no signs of it so far and it's a robust and decent sized palm!! Don't you worry, it was out aside the second I saw it!!

The only palm that I have that's similar to the way yours behaves is my butia x p. cocoides, the leaves are still not split and it's got a real big base. That's why I am thinking you have a cross. And the leaves actually remind me of a syagrus. Whatever it is, it's real unique. That's what makes this hobby so much fun, coming across that one extraordinary seedling is a real joy.

If this Butia is a cross with a Syagrus, wouldn't it be much bigger than those other Butias.

Ben might be correct, it could be a "Lisa".

I will be calling the production nursery that supplied this palm and asking if there are anymore the same as this one, my thoughts are that if it is a hybrid there should be another couple amongst its siblings?

If I am told by the producer that this is the only one in the batch and if no one else here has got (or has seen one) like it then the mutation theory becomes more of an option? I would have thought that a hybrid would be more prolific than a palm with a mutation?

Hmmm.....a mystery. ...I love a good mystery. ...

Keep us updated

reminds me something...

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/12760-zque-pensais-de-esta-butia/

What size is that container? I would disagree with that being a cross with syagrus.

The palm in question is in a 200mm pot, to my best estimate that equates to about 2 gallons worth. It is approx 2 foot tall excluding to pot and rootball.

Here is a few more pics for you showing the leaf detail in a better light.... Slight "windows" are visible..

What size is that container? I would disagree with that being a cross with syagrus.

You're right, it's not butia x syagrus, this is a real butia x cocos nucifera. OK, it's a long shot, but my butia x parajubaea cocoides also has leaves that won't split until much much later, so it's not so far fetched.