coccothrinax argentata: I'm going to give this a shot

[Jimbean]

So I'm driving down A1A in Vero Beach and noticed these in the center divider of the road.  I parked at the beach and walked, and to my surprise I saw volunteers popping up everywhere.  I took a bunch of seeds from them.

[Valhallalla]

Are you sure those are C. argentata? It is hard to tell as the photos are silhouette but they look taller and more robust than what argentata typically are.  C. argentata has among the least rigid leaves in the genus. They have finely cut leaf segments that often droop noticeably. The leaves are very glossy green on top and very silver on the bottom. These attributes cause them to glisten as they move in the sun. The effect is hard to describe unless you have seen it. They are also quite slow growing. I can't imagine that palms of the size in your photos could be profitably grown for use in a median planting if they are actually C. argentata.

These are probably a faster growing species such as C. barbadensis or C. argentea. Regardless, I love seeing any species of Coccothrinax used commercially. Good luck with your seed harvest.

[NatureGirl]

Totally agree with Valhallalla, probably argentea. If it was argentata that tall it would be 3000 yrs old.

[kinzyjr]

Regardless of what they end up being, good luck with them.  We had a few Coccothrinax argentata flower and set fruit here, but the offspring ended up not being viable.  They weren't even half that size though.

[Jimbean]

Here's another photo.  Coccothrinax is tricky for me to tell apart because I don't have a lot of experience with this genus

[IHB1979]

Nice photos, I drive by these on the way to McKee Botanical Garden and I’m always tempted to stop for seeds. Glad you got some.

[Jimbean]

10 hours ago, IHB1979 said:

Nice photos, I drive by these on the way to McKee Botanical Garden and I’m always tempted to stop for seeds. Glad you got some.

Do you know what they are?

[PalmatierMeg]

I can't tell from the photos but C. barbadensis is the most commonly planted Coccothrinax sp and it has lax leaves too. I agree these are not argentata, which are painfully slow growing. This is mine planted in 1993 and may be 35+ years old. Four feet of clear trunk.

C. argentata, March 2021

 

[TaylorPlantHunter]

I was also wondering about these palms, and did a search for “Vero” to see if it was already a topic. The leaves have a slightly silvery underside and are quite small, more rigid, and more finely divided then C. argentata. I agree now looking at the previous id posts above this is almost certainly C. argentea. Thanks

[NatureGirl]

Here’s some 3 gallon size C. argentata I grew from seed from my palm out front. Which was grown from seed from Fairchild as C. Proctorii,( the one by itself by a pond). They lumped proctorii with argentata a long time ago.

[JubaeaMan138]

2 hours ago, NatureGirl said:

Here’s some 3 gallon size C. argentata I grew from seed from my palm out front. Which was grown from seed from Fairchild as C. Proctorii,( the one by itself by a pond). They lumped proctorii with argentata a long time ago.

How old are those 3 gallon ?

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

On 8/19/2021 at 12:14 PM, PalmatierMeg said:

I can't tell from the photos but C. barbadensis is the most commonly planted Coccothrinax sp and it has lax leaves too. I agree these are not argentata, which are painfully slow growing. This is mine planted in 1993 and may be 35+ years old. Four feet of clear trunk.

C. argentata, March 2021

 

This is exactly what I was going to say the ones posted were.