5 hours ago, SeanK said:

Is P.pacifica the most common?

They're beautiful at the 12-ft to 20-ft height where the white tormentum is clearly visible.

Sean, the common wisdom is that only the Hawaiian species will grow in California, so... no P. pacifica or P. thurstonii.

5 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Sean, the common wisdom is that only the Hawaiian species will grow in California, so... no P. pacifica or P. thurstonii.

I'll add that P. pacifica and P. thurstonii do grow fine out here in the desert around Palm Springs. I have a couple of P. pacifica (purchased from a nursery in Florida) in the ground and a P. thurstonii that I sprouted from seed I collected from the tree at our former house on Big Pine Key, and after four years it's still strap-leaf and still in a container. Both grow fine here, though I purposely keep P. pacifica under canopy to avoid the leaf-damage that occurs under open sky on cold nights. It has been documented both in Florida and SoCal to be relatively bud-hardy but leaf-damage occurs under open sky somewhere in the low 40s. Out here in the desert it throws new leaves so fast in spring and summer that by June-July it has a nice head of new leaves, although I haven't seen any real damage growing mine under canopy despite temps into the low 30s F. Also Matt Bradford I believe did grow one at his house in San Diego but winter damage to the leaves and slow recovery in the cool spring and summer meant a result of diminishing returns for him, so he removed it, and documented this in a post on the forum here. While I haven't seen any results about P. thurstonii in the coastal plain or fogbelt (zone 24), it is definitely a slower grower than P. pacifica for me here. I noticed this in the Florida Keys as well. It is certainly correct that at least P. pacifica is not recommended for the coast and coastal/interior valley areas.

The great thing about the Hawai'ian Pritchardia species is that there are so many of them and they occupy such different niches, elevations and windward/leeward locations, sun, cloud, rain, dry, etc., that there are species for many different climate zones in California. When I lived in Los Feliz (eastern Hollywood, Los Angeles), I grew a Pritchardia beccariana that thrived, and it got quite tall after we moved across town, though it is gone today. I'm sure this was due to purposeful removal and not cold damage. It went through the 1990 freeze with no real problem at all, while young Royal palms and other plants around it were killed.

Thanks Michael, that's good to know.

The only Pritchardia to grow for me in my always cold, humid microclimate is P. minor.

Hey Dale, like the previous responses to what your palm might be………just not sure. I don’t think however, that it is P. martii. That is a comparison to the one I have in the garden whose undersides and petioles are covered completely with whitish/silver lepidia. So much so, it resembles frost. The petioles are also incredibly long, even in full sun.

A few years back I acquired some small cast off Pritchardia in cones and they were supposed to be either P. beccariana or P. hillebrandii. Now that they are fairly decent size, I can only guess what they really are. One has heavy lepidia like P. martii, one is moderately covered like P. beccariana, and two have almost none. Ufta! The more one knows, the less one knows.

Here are a few photos of the P. martii I took this morning. It’s a stunning palm.

Oh, and thanks for the bump

Tim

Here is an updated photo of P. glabrata. I had a pair side by side and curiously lost one a few years back.

Tim

So, while I was in the vicinity, here are a few snaps of P. lanigera. Why not eh?

Tim

My only Pritchardia is P. Hillebrandii brought home from Maui years ago in a 3” pot! It has survived for at least 15 years here in Santa Paula . Planted next to my house for protection , although I’m not sure it needed it. Harry