Spotlight on Livistona fulva

[Daryl]

This is one of my favourite fan palms in my garden. The older it gets the more colourful it gets. My Liv fulvas have been so hardy and trouble free since I planted them. One of them has never been watered since I planted it. It hasn't grown as fast but is still in perfect health.

How do these grow in your part of the world?

Daryl

[PalmGuyWC]

Wow Daryl!

That's a beauty, and I've never heard of it.  Does anyone know how much cold it will take? The only two Livistonas I have are L. australis and diciepiens and they have survived some pretty cold temps and came through this winter at 23F without a scratch. Does anyone know of other Livistonas as cold hardy as the two I mentioned?

Dick

[Daryl]

Hi Dick,

This was known for many years as Livistona sp 'Blackdown' as it originates from the Blackdown Tablelands west of Rockhampton. I believe it is reasonably cold hardy and should do well for you. The other palm that I've heard is very cold hardy is Livistona nitida. Perhaps someone else can chime in here as we don't really get cold tempas here and I'm not really qualified to comment on 'cold hardiness'...

Here is something I wrote years ago...

Outback Travels

regards,

Daryl

[Charles Wychgel]

Livistona fulva(why do I like that name  ::  ) grows fine for me here in Portugal and so does L.nitida and L.lanuginosa

L.saribus is the slow one here or maybe I am too mean with watering.

Desperately tried to grow L.inermis and L.humilis, but no luck here    are you Aussies doing better?

[PalmGuyWC]

Daryl,

Thanks for the info, and I journed through your trip to the outbacks of Queensland.  Very nice prose, and I felt like I was almost there, of course not getting my butt bumped on those unpaved roads, swating insects, and the fear of being eaten by a Crock.

I once spent several days on Dunk Island, and there were snakes there.  I remember one grey monster that crossed the path in front of me and seemed like it took him a long to time to get across.  He had to be 7 or 8' long.  I gave him plenty of distance. I had been warned that a Taipan can drop you in your tracks in a matter of seconds.

I also looked at your nice photo album of palms.  Very nice.

Dick

[elHoagie]

Beautiful Daryl!  I've been trying to find one of these for a while now, but no one seems to have them in SoCal...  Ray in Tampa has generously offered some seeds, once they're ripe.

[bgl]

Daryl,

L. fulva is a great looking palm and it does very well here in Hawaii. Here's my one and only!

Bo-Göran

[paulgila]

its certainly a beautiful palm! i would like to try it here in socal,too.

[richnorm]

They grow here in Auckland, NZ.  I just got given two young plants. Lucky me!

[malcthomas]

My one is about to undergo its first winter in the ground here on the East Coast , Nth Island, New Zealand...I am frost free however..will let you know how it fares...

I have had L.muelleri growing well inground for a number of years..

Daryl...L.nitida, seed from you, is also doing well, L.rigida (seed also from you) no good and I don't think that I have any left...

regards...Malcolm

[Cycadcenter]

Livistona fulva is getting very hard to get in pure form as the only stands are located within a National Park and seed collecting is prohibited.

It is certainly an incredible sight to see these palms in habitat with a beautiful stand on the way up to the tableland against the cliff faces.  

If you ever get the chance to visit Blackdown Tablelands jump at the opportunity as it is an amazing place.

I think Palm Mountain had some but where they went in the sale I don't know.

Bruce

[Palmtrader]

I grow ten Livistona species here in Spain and three we export to the UK. Nitida and decipiens are the hardiest but I have heard that fulva is also a possible candidate for colder climes.

[Rod]

Here is a list of Livistona's I'm growing here in Phoenix (low of 23° this past winter)

Livistona sarabus

L. loriphylla

L. decipiens (now decora)

L. nitida - carnivon gorge

L. nitida

L. mariae

L. fulva

L. rigida

L. victoria river blue (most frost sensitive)

L. concinnus

L. mariae v. occidentalis

L. sp. big trunk (my favorite)

L. australis

L. victoriae "froggie hole"

L. drudei

L. bethamii

L. lanuginosa

L. humils

Unfortunately, I was unable to get the L. inermis to grow here.

I know they grow L. chinensis also in Phx, just not in my collection.

Rod

[Carlo Morici]

These are the ones at the Palmetum in Tenerife, pictured last November. They were planted in the ground five or six years ago.

They have the golden shine in the younger leaves, but it was not captured in the picture. Not as reddish or intense as the first picture posted by Daryl in this thread.

Last year I saw a nice specimen last in mainland Spain, in the garden of JL Martinavarro, in Gandia, Valencia.

Carlo

[Tyrone]

Daryl, I really enjoyed your travel diaries. Excellent stuff.

Tyrone