Rhopalostylis Oceana

[el-blanco]

This palm is quite happy as of late. About 15 years old from a 5 gallon.  Does not like the heat.

i think this was a Palm from Tom Simpson when he had his nursery.

[Matt in OC]

Looks gorgeous but I would have expected a bit more size after 15 years. Aren't oceana relatively fast growing?

[Mandrew968]

That's a variation of sapida, right? Looks cool...

[Palm Tree Jim]

Great form and well grown.

[Mohsen]

This is from Colin's garden

a real beauty  

[DoomsDave]

Looks like an awesome baueri variant. But apparently an even more awesome sapida variant.

Gorgeous, whatever it is.

[el-blanco]

On 5/15/2017, 10:59:52, Matt in OC said:

Looks gorgeous but I would have expected a bit more size after 15 years. Aren't oceana relatively fast growing?

Matt,  I agree it should be MUCH BIGGER. I had quite a few issues with it when young, but never gave up on it.  Im hoping it will take towards the sky now that it is happy again.

[DoomsDave]

18 minutes ago, el-blanco said:

Matt,  I agree it should be MUCH BIGGER. I had quite a few issues with it when young, but never gave up on it.  Im hoping it will take towards the sky now that it is happy again.

I think everyone expects it to act like a baueri, which it isn't, which is a lot faster growing.

Let me know when it seeds . . . .

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Very nice looking palm

By Rhopalostylis Oceana do you mean from Chatham Islands

I ask as i have two in my garden that i grew from seed from Robert De Jong " pogo bob"

I could be wrong but it looks a lot like Rhopalostylis baueri cheesemani to me because it has arching fronds , and a crownshaft that is not huge and swollen like chatham islands sapida.  Oceana has silver petioles.

cheers Troy

 

[Hammer]

I losthink a Cheesemanii a year ago.  Great thread to remid me to climb back on the Rhopalostylis horse.  Fantastic palms everyone! 

[Gary]

typical looking Pitt Island [Chathams] sapida growing in Auckland

[palmad Merc]

Has anyone tried germinating these palms, do the seeds need heat or no?being where there from..

 

[Gary]

I germinate 1000s of them and do so by leaving seed in 2plasticbags from time I pick off bunch till germinated.I don't use heat and don't clean them either

[palmad Merc]

Thank you Gary, 

I collected some on a recent trip to NZ so I had to clean them to get through customs. 

How long do they take to germinate? 

[Gary]

I only clean when I send to Toby.For me they take 12mth to germinate.When was your recent trip to nz

[palmad Merc]

I went to samoa mid march for a surf trip and collected adonidia merrillii seeds there,  then on route back to Sydney stayed at friends house near Piha collected seeds from his yard. Super red and fresh 

Arrived back 1st April

Ok so a year, a bit to go.....

So no need for heat. .

Does heat reduce germination for these?

[Gary]

are you sure they are chatham type as mid march is pretty late for them 

[palmad Merc]

I don't think they are Chatham type, 

I don't know too much about them. 

The common ones around Piha. 

[Gary]

ok-ones round there are just normal type sapida.I live 20km from there

[palmad Merc]

Thanks for the info Gary

you live in a great part of the world! 

[David York]

On 16/05/2017, 04:00:44, el-blanco said:

This palm is quite happy as of late. About 15 years old from a 5 gallon.  Does not like the heat.

i think this was a Palm from Tom Simpson when he had his nursery.

Doesn't anyone else think this looks like a Hedyscepe canterburyana? I certainly do! It's a close relative of Rhopalostylis, but to me, this is Hedyscepe.

Edited September 20, 2017 by David York
grammar

[Hilo Jason]

Heres my Oceana in my Fallbrook garden.  Getting big and still not trunking yet.  This is 7 years from a 5 gallon, with my daughter for scale.  

[Phil Petersen]

Kermadec Is Nikau (left) Chathams Is Nikau, (right)  Have 6 of each all same size. Thinking long term here but will enjoy in pots for a few more years

[Darold Petty]

Here  are R. baueri v. cheesmanii and R. sapida v. Chatham/Pitt island. Most sapida have pinkish/maroon buds., R. baueri & sapida Chatham/Pitt have ivory/cream buds,  refer to the third photo which is R. sapida v. Chatham/Pitt island.  

[Darold Petty]

I went through some old images, here are two normal R. sapida spadices,      

 

[Phil Petersen]

These R. sapida var. Chathams are at Larnach Castle in Dunedin NZ. Have been in the ground around 18years. Are about 200m above sealevel on the Otago Peninsula on a north facing slope. [Edit - closer to 300masl)

Edited May 11, 2020 by Phil Petersen
Adjust height above sea level

[Trava]

Nice palms.Did they ever experience freezing temperature?

[palmad Merc]

Those would of copped some snow over the years 

Edited May 11, 2020 by palmad Merc
Spell check

[Tyrone]

21 hours ago, Phil Petersen said:

These R. sapida var. Chathams are at Larnach Castle in Dunedin NZ. Have been in the ground around 18years. Are about 200m above sealevel on the Otago Peninsula on a north facing slope. [Edit - closer to 300masl)

I remember these palms when they were featured on a special NZ episode of Better Homes and Gardens and they would have been 60cm to 1m tall. They mentioned them saying they were a tough palm that have also had snow on them at times with no damage. After that I needed to get some. It probably was about 18 years ago approx.

[Phil Petersen]

On 9/20/2017 at 11:09 PM, David York said:

Doesn't anyone else think this looks like a Hedyscepe canterburyana? I certainly do! It's a close relative of Rhopalostylis, but to me, this is Hedyscepe.

Yes, thats exactly what I thought. Fronds look recurved like H canterburyana.