After receiving a few Verschaffeltia seeds from a friend who wanted to return a favor, I immediately responded to him that I was 100% sure the seeds were not Verschaffeltia splendida. I have had multiple batches of these seeds since I started the hobby and the seeds have always been very characteristic in their appearance. With the sharp edges and deep grooves there can be no mistake... at least, that's what I though.

The seeds that I received were smaller than previous seeds I've germinated and appear to lack the ridges and edges, just smooth and spherical seeds. Hence my first reply of it not being V. splendida seeds, they had to be something else.

So my friend contacted his seed supplier from Thailand and received a bunch of photo's of some different specimens which grow on his property showing some striking differences.

First of all the differences of the seeds that I described...

Quite a striking difference and hard to believe the seeds are the same species...

So the seeds are numbered with the same numbers for the trees they came from:

Both trees appear to be Verschaffeltia splendida, but looking at these pictures I think that the leaves of tree nr2 are smaller and the trunk appears a bit thinner.

Could this be just an adaptation to less ideal growing circumstances? I don't know anything about the position of both specimens, for example full sun, partial sun, shade grown, soil specifics...so actually I know very little.

Anybody here on palmtalk that knows more about this phenomenon?

 

Could 2 be immature fruit/seed? All V. spledida seed I've had have appeared like 1, never like 2. Hmm...

30 minutes ago, Missi said:

Could 2 be immature fruit/seed? All V. spledida seed I've had have appeared like 1, never like 2. Hmm...

Maybe, but immature or not, the seeds appear to be germinating.

On 3/16/2018, 9:10:04, Kai said:

Maybe, but immature or not, the seeds appear to be germinating.

Hmm! AWESOME! Excited to see how they turn out!!

Yeah me too.

When there's any progress, I'll post pictures.

@Kai I'm curious too, thank you for this great thread!

According to the sellers offer I have bought a few seeds too. I have 3 pure species with 5 leafs, so it will not be a problem with comparison soon. I hope someone will be able to tell what are these. 

 

I have received seeds of this variety already germinated:

Seeds after 8 days - two of them have visible growth:

And here is my pure Verschaffeltia splendida (Seychelles). Seeds from Singapore. I took photos of the biggest one. Seeds germinated 26.9.2017 so it's quite a fast palm:

Yes Verschaffeltia grows at lightning speed! My seeds are in the same stadium as yours. I don't expect to see a lot of differences in the seedling stage though

Just now, Kai said:

Yes Verschaffeltia grows at lightning speed! My seeds are in the same stadium as yours. I don't expect to see a lot of differences in the seedling stage though

It would be success too. If they are similar, it will mean they are same species and different variety! :)

How's your seedlings? Mine is pushing up first leaf finally and shows some first spikes. It is now in new mix (leca 1-4mm, perlite, coconut fiber) so I hope it will like it.

 

Happy growing, Vojtech

The same here  

On 4/29/2018 at 10:15 AM, GrumpyGrower said:

@Kai I'm curious too, thank you for this great thread!

According to the sellers offer I have bought a few seeds too. I have 3 pure species with 5 leafs, so it will not be a problem with comparison soon. I hope someone will be able to tell what are these. 

 

I have received seeds of this variety already germinated:

Seeds after 8 days - two of them have visible growth:

And here is my pure Verschaffeltia splendida (Seychelles). Seeds from Singapore. I took photos of the biggest one. Seeds germinated 26.9.2017 so it's quite a fast palm:

Are these seeds from seller named 'Patikit"? 

3 hours ago, Reynevan said:

Are these seeds from seller named 'Patikit"? 

Yes

These do amazingly well in pots for a long time. I have 2 on my porch that have been in pots for 10+ years and look great.

That variety seems to be very sensitive to everything. Stress is always shown. Whether not enough or too much water, etc. 

On 7/5/2019 at 10:19 AM, redant said:

These do amazingly well in pots for a long time. I have 2 on my porch that have been in pots for 10+ years and look great.

Pics, please!

4 hours ago, Missi said:

Pics, please!

Get some tomorrow.

 

On 7/8/2019 at 4:42 PM, Missi said:

Pics, please!

Here you go, the larger of the 2, about 12 years from a seedling. If the nights going to be below 40 it comes in

On 7/9/2019 at 8:57 PM, redant said:

Here you go, the larger of the 2, about 12 years from a seedling. If the nights going to be below 40 it comes in

WOOOWWW!! It's like a V. splendida bonsai!! I bet it's the talk of your lanai visitors!

Here is some real verschaffeltia variation. These are two plants I sold as 7 gallons probably 20 years ago. They are thriving and flowering in East Fort Lauderdale. One has a normal green crown, and the other one has a black crown. I've never seen that before. The palms are probably 20 ft overall, and survived just fine through the brutal winters of 2010. Microclimate can matter.

On 7/5/2019 at 4:23 PM, beliz1985 said:

That variety seems to be very sensitive to everything. Stress is always shown. Whether not enough or too much water, etc. 

How are yours doing now?

Here are mine ones Amazingly fast growing palm, it had no foliage just 2 weeks ago. However I worry a bit about leaf colors. It looks a bit to yellow to me. Let me know if your seedlings had similar coloring. 

Edited July 31, 20196 yr by Reynevan

That's just the way they look. They are very colorful seedlings. Yours look like they're doing great