Dwarf butia

[Laaz]

I have been finding quite a few dwarf butias around town lately. This one has a very short trunk & the top leaves are 5 ft from the ground. It has flowered multiple times.

 

 

[CroToni]

11 minutes ago, Laaz said:

I have been finding quite a few dwarf butias around town lately. This one has a very short trunk & the top leaves are 5 ft from the ground. It has flowered multiple times.

 

 

hmmm,lets see how it'll look in 10 years.

doubt it is a dwarf cultivar,probably just grew in bad conditions.

[Laaz]

This is much older than 10 years. It has multiple old flower stalks. The trunk is 18+ inches wide.

[redbeard917]

When I lived on the Gulf Coast, there were many Butias, and spotting an oddball wasn't uncommon. I can think of at least one dwarf Butia I used to see. I like them. Easier to tuck into a small space. I wonder if they're a different species, or hybrid, or if they just represent natural genetic variation within the population.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Laaz - Those are regular Odorata or catarinensis and both will flower when surprisingly small (I've had several flower in 20G pots.)  I have a picture of one that flowered in a 10G pot and now has 5' of trunk.

 

[Laaz]

This neighborhood is over 20 years old. You never see them this small seeding with no trunk. Could just be a freak. Butia have been planted here for decades. The only thing more common is the native palmettos.

[mdsonofthesouth]

There is a nursery by my house that has one growing outside. Its been out and fully exposed for as long as I have been here (june 2016) and has seen some really cold weather and looks pretty good. Might have to try one of these out!

[Laaz]

This is what the Odorata's look like. Much larger...

 

 

[mdsonofthesouth]

3 hours ago, Laaz said:

This is what the Odorata's look like. Much larger...

 

 

 

What is this palms hardiness? This looks just like the one I mentioned but bigger. I need to call the nursery and see about getting up closer to it.

[Turtlesteve]

I can't believe the palm in question is 20 years old.  There are not enough old leaf bases visible.  Were the palm old, the leaf bases would be numerous and tightly packed as leaves are continually produced without any vertical growth.  Still a very attractive palm - I like the spiral twist in the leaves.  

Steve

[Laaz]

The old leaves are trimmed off every year. I've lived in this neighborhood for 16 years & it has always been there, I just never paid attention to it. The butia in my neighborhood are so variable it's not funny.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

The next time i visit a large field growing operation i am going to make a video. One thing i've learned is that Butia variability is off the charts. I've driven down scores of rows 1/2 mile long totally convinced i was looking at multiple totally different species (wild abnomalies like strictor, dwarf compact, zero armament, pure silver) but all were grown from the same five parents plants in the front of the property.   I've seen this at three different operations and had i not seen it for myself i wouldn't have believed it. 

I do plant on hand picking a few of them from selected places and planting out just because they are so very unique.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Bjxb flowering for the first time. Maybe the heat here makes them flower faster.