Copernicia baileyana & prunifera Seeds: any interest?

[PalmatierMeg]

I've been under the weather for the better part of a month due to side effects of a 2nd covid vaccine in April following a 1st covid vaccine in March following a bout of Covid-19 the whole month of Nov. The side effects of those triggered attacks of chronic migraines and Meniere's disease that affected my ability to stand and walk a straight line. Last week my husband went out of town to visit the grandkids alone as I am not fit to travel farther than the CVS pharmacy. So, I've been unable to sell or ship any of my bodacious seeds or plants.

But he's due home later today and I'm hoping to sell again to supplement my limited income and afford an order from Floribunda.

A few weeks ago on a day I could stand and walk, we paid a visit to the Fort Myers palm parks to see what was going on. Most of the palms looked healthy if a bit scruffy. I believe because of Covid, Ft. Myers Public Works doesn't devote a lot of time to these parks aside from mowing grass. In the past, grounds keepers scrupulously trimmed the palms, including inflorescences and infructescenses. 

Imagine my surprise when we discovered two Copernicias were seeding profusely:

1. Copernicia baileyana

2. Copernicia prunifera

We found the ground covered with black prunifera seeds and I filled a 13g trash bag with them. The baileyana seeds were just starting to ripen but I managed to find some of those. I am willing to make another collection if enough people are interested in them. I seldom see fresh seeds of either species available anywhere. And if Ft. Myers' groundskeepers ever get back on track, my windfall seeds source will disappear again.

But before I post topics in the Sale Forum or venture into downtown FM, I want to gauge interest in seeds of these palms. Does anyone want them? How many? As these seeds are the size of large marbles and a chore to clean, I plan to sell them by the piece, which is what most people do here, say $0.20 to $0.25 each + shipping. Anyone interested?

I got photos of the mother palms below

Copernicia baileyana, Ft. Myers, FL, 2021

Copernicia prunifera, Ft. Myers, FL, 2021 - Fronds looked silver/blue to me

 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

I got 20$ on the cause, to keep you in business @PalmatierMegand help supplement your Floribunda order =) Hope you feel better soon 

T J 

[Valhallalla]

I am far from being an expert on Copernecia but that one labeled as C baileyana sure doesn't look like any Bailey I have ever had the pleasure to marvel at.

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Copernicia_baileyana

[PalmatierMeg]

1 hour ago, Valhallalla said:

I am far from being an expert on Copernecia but that one labeled as C baileyana sure doesn't look like any Bailey I have ever had the pleasure to marvel at.

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Copernicia_baileyana

It does seem small but I was thinking it hasn't received a lot of nurturing in the past decade or two. I don't want to mislead anyone. Can anyone tell me what Copernicia the plant in the photo is?

[NatureGirl]

Doesn’t look like Baileyana, but if it ends up being C. Yarey I’m interested in some. 

[PalmatierMeg]

5 minutes ago, NatureGirl said:

Doesn’t look like Baileyana, but if it ends up being C. Yarey I’m interested in some. 

I would be too as I haven't found C. yarey anywhere.

Are there any Copernicia experts out there?

[Reyes Vargas]

20 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Copernicia prunifera,

I'd be interested in Copernicia prunifera.  Thanks.

[PalmatierMeg]

I've been researching on Palmpedia and have come down to two choices for my Not Baileyana. Check out links below and compare to my photo:

Choice #1: Copernicia alba. I'm leaning strongly toward this one because it is somewhat available in SWFL. But it is one of the smallest of Copernicias

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Copernicia_alba

 

Choice #2: Copernicia yarey. I've never seed this species outside of Cuba. Also, it gets quite large.

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Copernicia_yarey

So, what does everybody think? I've never found a seeding Copernicia in SWFL before and even "common" species are hard to find and expensive. I would hate to compost these seeds.

[NatureGirl]

This out of Paul Crafts book. I think it looks way more like yarey than alba. Who knows, could be a hybrid too.

[PalmatierMeg]

Okay, I've got the following ID responses:

C. alba = 0

C. yarey or yarey hybrid = 2

I hope it's yarey as I know of none in this part of FL. Besides, I already have several baileyana

Who else wants to respond?

[WaianaeCrider]

9 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Okay, I've got the following ID responses:

C. alba = 0

C. yarey or yarey hybrid = 2

I hope it's yarey as I know of none in this part of FL. Besides, I already have several baileyana

Who else wants to respond?

I'lll shoot for 5 of each.

[Reyes Vargas]

I agree with the both of you.  It does really look like Copernicia yarey.

[PalmatierMeg]

Okay, I've got the following ID responses:

C. alba = 0

C. yarey or yarey hybrid = 3

I hope it's yarey as I know of none in this part of FL. Besides, I already have several baileyana

Who else wants to respond?

[Valhallalla]

If I had to choose between C alba and C yarey as my only choices I would say it looks more like C yarey but again I am far from being an expert.

Why would you have to scrap the seeds just because you can't give an "official" name to them? Does it really matter if you can't ID it or if it is a hybrid?

Names are just something we use to describe things to each other. If you like the palm go ahead and grow it. You already know what it will most likely eventually look like.

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

35 minutes ago, Valhallalla said:

If I had to choose between C alba and C yarey as my only choices I would say it looks more like C yarey but again I am far from being an expert.

Why would you have to scrap the seeds just because you can't give an "official" name to them? Does it really matter if you can't ID it or if it is a hybrid?

Names are just something we use to describe things to each other. If you like the palm go ahead and grow it. You already know what it will most likely eventually look like.

 

 

I probably wouldn't, at least initially. I've found when I sell seeds that few people are willing to take a chance on germinating an unknown palm. So, the chances of selling seeds of "Copernicia species" drop way down. I'll try to get them out anyway.

The other thing I want to stress is that this find I made likely will be a one-time-only chance. If/when routines get back to normal post-pandemic the City of Fort Myers groundskeepers will be encouraged to cut, hack and discard inflorescenses from all park palms like they have every year. Those two Copernicias may never seed again. And trying to convince the wheels of government to do otherwise will be like spitting in the wind.

[PalmatierMeg]

These seeds have generated interest. They should be ready to post for sale in a week or two. I need to collect more and get them ready. Watch for the listing.

Thanks, all.

[Collectorpalms]

2 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

These seeds have generated interest. They should be ready to post for sale in a week or two. I need to collect more and get them ready. Watch for the listing.

Thanks, all.

I hope I am still first In line for some. Sent PM. I can’t follow sale items fast enough. 

[jimmyt]

@PalmatierMeg  I would be interested in a couple dozen of both!  Never met a palm I did not like!  I hope you fully recover from your COVID woes!

[WaianaeCrider]

12 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I've been researching on Palmpedia and have come down to two choices for my Not Baileyana. Check out links below and compare to my photo:

Choice #1: Copernicia alba. I'm leaning strongly toward this one because it is somewhat available in SWFL. But it is one of the smallest of Copernicias

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Copernicia_alba

 

Choice #2: Copernicia yarey. I've never seed this species outside of Cuba. Also, it gets quite large.

http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Copernicia_yarey

So, what does everybody think? I've never found a seeding Copernicia in SWFL before and even "common" species are hard to find and expensive. I would hate to compost these seeds.

My Copernicia alba. is far from small.  Picked up seed around 1997. Planted it in 98.  Look at it last year 21 years old.  It's gotta be 20' tall.  Of course concidering where I got the seed it too could be a hybred.

 

[PalmatierMeg]

UPDATE: Friday we went to the park again to check on the Copernicia seeds. We collected many more C. prunifera seeds, which I am going to list now. But we found only a few ripe C. yarey seeds - the rest need more time to ripen. We will check on them later in May.

I took a few more photos of the C. yarey to help with ID

[JubaeaMan138]

Thanks again Meg!!!

[aabell]

Just stopped by this park. There was hardly any inflorescenses to be seen as the groundskeepers have been busy keeping everything trimmed. Strangely the mystery Copernicia has been totally spared despite the fact that it's actively dropping fruit. Picked up just a few seeds to try - any luck with last years' crop? Do we still think it's possibly C. yarey?

[Fusca]

35 minutes ago, aabell said:

Picked up just a few seeds to try - any luck with last years' crop?

I had germination with both species.