What is the most beautiful Pritchardia ?

[Tracy]

While the id might not be accurate, this Pritchardia I acquired as P flynnii is always at the tops of my list.  The petioles are fuzzy brown and undersides of leaves are loaded with lepidota.  Thus far it appears to be a pretty small growing palm, but time will tell.  This new leaf popped open and the adjacent Burretiokentia's inflorescence seems to be laid out on an older leaf of my Pritchardia.  It created an eye catching contrast of both color and shape that drew my camera into the scene.

[realarch]

Tracy, that first photo is killer! That B.hapala inflorescence is alien spectacular.

Tim

[Tracy]

On 9/10/2021 at 3:20 PM, quaman58 said:

Colin,

I've had a bakeri in ground for about 3 years now that has started pushing leaves like crazy. I agree, I think it's going to be a beauty as well...

Bret

 

On 9/10/2021 at 1:06 PM, colin Peters said:

Jeff Marcus has a few one gallon ones at floribunda, P. hardyi and marti are beautiful,

but of course my favorite is at the top of our valley. P. bakeri. 

I like my P bakeri as well.  Bret I'm guessing we got ours from the same batch.  Share a photo of your California grown P bakeri.  Colin thanks for all your work on the conservation of this species!

[Tracy]

On 9/8/2021 at 5:37 PM, quaman58 said:

I have to put forth a couple honorable mentions: P. beccariana, just a wonderful, relatively speedy grower that looks as close as it can to P. pacifica. Already flowering at 6 years old..

 

I too am a fan of Pritchardia beccariana.  I have had to trim lower fronds off as they get damaged from fronds of my neighbor's Archontophoenix dropping on them.  Very nice specimen Bret and impressive that yours was already pushing inflo's last summer at that age and size.

[Matt in OC]

My P. minor was looking especially striking yesterday. I love this palm. 

[realarch]

Oh yeah Matt, that’s a beauty.

Tim

[deezpalms]

I have martii, maideniana, lanigera, forbesiana, napalensis, hillebrandii “blue moon”, munroi & remota. Since I’m from Hawaii I wanted to get a lot of pritchardia’s. 

[SoulofthePlace]

I have got two Pritchardia hillebrandii growing in my yard next to and surrounded by three Hyophorbes (indica, lagenicaulis and verschaffeltii), since Pritchardia pacifica did not make it:

 

[SubTropicRay]

P. pacifica (sorry Hawaii) may be one the most common but also the most beautiful.

[Harry’s Palms]

Great old thread. The easy answer for me is the only one I have ! 😂 A  P. Hillebrandii that I brought home from Maui many years ago , just a seedling with certs. Now well overhead and looking better all the time! Harry

[colin Peters]

My favorite is Pritchardia bakeri,  I can look up to the top of our valley from my house and see its habitat., it is in peril from the Coconut rino beetle.

Driving thru Waimanolo the other day, many if not most all of the Coco and Pritchardia  are infested if not just dead., trunks sticking straight up with all the leaves gone.   Just a reminder. 

There are just a few P. bakeri left in the summit area of  Kuliouou valley.  I counted 21, with many, many  trips to their habitat thru the past 25 years . I hope seed are collected by PEPP  before they are lost.  I thought rats were bad, but this is destruction and extinction.

[quaman58]

Probably the genus I obsess over more than most. Got a nice husky P. forbesiana from floribunda several years ago. Followed by a becarriana I previously posted, but just is turning into a monster.

[quaman58]

7 minutes ago, colin Peters said:

My favorite is Pritchardia bakeri,  I can look up to the top of our valley from my house and see its habitat., it is in peril from the Coconut rino beetle.

Driving thru Waimanolo the other day, many if not most all of the Coco and Pritchardia  are infested if not just dead., trunks sticking straight up with all the leaves gone.   Just a reminder. 

There are just a few P. bakeri left in the summit area of  Kuliouou valley.  I counted 21, with many, many  trips to their habitat thru the past 25 years . I hope seed are collected by PEPP  before they are lost.  I thought rats were bad, but this is destruction and extinction.

Colin, I had no idea the beetle was having that horrible an impact. That is really depressing. You’ve been one of the few voices of knowledge on these Hawaiian natives, so thank you again for that. The two bakeri I am honored to be growing are still chugging along. They are definitely a more compact palm than most Hawaiian Pritchardia.

[realarch]

Looking great Bret. 

The P. martii still ticks all the boxes for me, although the other Pritchardia’s in the garden can hold their own. 

Here are a few recent photos.

A juvenile P. beccariana.

[realarch]

Here’s the P. glabrata. 

Tim

[realarch]

Here are a couple of photos of the P. martii. The petioles are unbelievably long even being in full sun. The abaxial side of the leaves are solid white, almost looks like heavy frost. 

I had Jonathan stand next to it for scale when he and his wife came for a visit. It’s unlike any Pritchardia I’ve ever seen. I know the provenance of this palm and it’s the real deal. 

Tim

[Zeeth]

P. beccariana is definitely one of my favorites, here’s one i donated to the Kopsick Palm arboretum in St. Pete in 2019

[Harry’s Palms]

Some very nice Pritchardia pictured here. As I previously posted , I only have one  ( wish I had planted more ). The common Hillebrandii is a beautiful and welcome inhabitant of my garden . Harry

Sorry , still dark out here as we wait for the storm coming in off the Pacific. Scrunched up against the house and slowly growing tall enough not to block my pathway . The lowest frond over the path is now over 6’ tall .

[quaman58]

11 hours ago, realarch said:

Here’s the P. glabrata. 

Tim

Beautiful palm Tim... I can't think of any Pritchardia I'm growing that has those wonderful lax leaf tips. Never see these available anywhere around here.

[realarch]

Thanks Bret. The P’. glabrata came from a native Hawaiian plant nursery about 15 years ago on the Kona side. I don’t think it’s there anymore. I really need to try germinating seed again as this palm is a prolific producer.

Tim  

[Matt in OC]

I'm still enjoying my lovely Pritchardia minor and its flowers. 😁

[tim_brissy_13]

6 minutes ago, Matt in OC said:

I'm still enjoying my lovely Pritchardia minor and its flowers. 😁

That’s a beauty Matt. Of all the Pritchardia I’ve seen, the P minors in New Zealand are right up there. 
 

What’s the smaller Pritchardia to the right? I like the heavily folded and bright green fronds and its compact form. 

[Matt in OC]

47 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

That’s a beauty Matt. Of all the Pritchardia I’ve seen, the P minors in New Zealand are right up there. 
 

What’s the smaller Pritchardia to the right? I like the heavily folded and bright green fronds and its compact form. 

Thanks Tim! That's a P. Napaliensis. It suffered for a few years without water so I think it's a bit stunted, but it's coming along nicely now and appears to be getting pretty beefy! 

[tim_brissy_13]

1 hour ago, Matt in OC said:

Thanks Tim! That's a P. Napaliensis. It suffered for a few years without water so I think it's a bit stunted, but it's coming along nicely now and appears to be getting pretty beefy! 

I had a feeling it might be P napaliensis and was hoping you’d say that. I’ve got one in ground coming along nicely. 
 

From memory it’s described as having incomplete covering of lepidia on the abaxial surface. Any colour to the undersides of the fronds at all? 

[Matt in OC]

15 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

I had a feeling it might be P napaliensis and was hoping you’d say that. I’ve got one in ground coming along nicely. 
 

From memory it’s described as having incomplete covering of lepidia on the abaxial surface. Any colour to the undersides of the fronds at all? 

I don't believe so, but I'll take a closer look later. 

[Billeb]

Still have no idea the species but it is very happy and beginning to get some frosty hue to the underside. Like many down here in SoCal, this was sold to me as Martii. No clue if it is or not. 

-dale 

 

[Harry’s Palms]

On 11/11/2025 at 7:21 PM, realarch said:

Here’s the P. glabrata. 

Tim

The leaf tips remind me of the L. Chinensis ….without the nasty teeth! Very nice palm . Harry

[Matt in OC]

On 11/12/2025 at 5:35 PM, tim_brissy_13 said:

I had a feeling it might be P napaliensis and was hoping you’d say that. I’ve got one in ground coming along nicely. 
 

From memory it’s described as having incomplete covering of lepidia on the abaxial surface. Any colour to the undersides of the fronds at all? 

Virtually no color for me. 

[Aloha Palms]

Purchased as P. Martii. A few years old from a 5 gallon I believe.

[Aloha Palms]

P. Beccariana put in the ground in 2022 from a 15 gallon.