So I have invested in some Archontophoenix Teracarpa's from Jungle music. I have seen some threads on here about them, but I'd love to see some before and after photos of when you first planted them and how they look now. I've seen that they grow fast. I personally picked up some triples. I would love to see some mature examples of multiples. Here's mine:

 

 

I have 2 singles no multiples. I purchased 2-5 gallons. They arrived so pale they looked like they had spent their entire life in a cave deprived of sunlight and nutrients. I cannot say I am happy with the purchase. I reached out to Phil and gave them lots of fertilizer, water, and love. 2 years later while they look better they are still paper than my other King palms in the Alexandrae complex and they grow way slower than other Archontophoenix planted next to them in similar light conditions. One especially struggles with putting out new leaves that start out with a green spear then turns yellow and brown.

I personally would not recommend them. They definitely are not”the best King Palm ever” as advertised.

I have one single that I bought as a 3 gallon and planted it shortly after. I was able to select mine in person and I picked the largest, healthiest 3g I could find. It was also super pale, but very shortly after planting it greened up a lot. It was a very dark healthy green mid way through last summer. It’s now a little more pale, but so are all my palms coming out of winter. So far it’s been a good grower for me and I can see it’s potential. It seems to do well with the no brown tipping also, especially for such a young palm. As far as “best king palm ever”, I don’t think I’d go that far yet.
 

Looking at the pics it looks like it’s put out 3 new fronds in less than a year.

First pic is planting day May 10th, 2021. Second and 3rd pic is today.

Interesting to see the different experiences between the 2 of you. Thank you for that. I had the greener of these 2 indoors over the winter and it was staying a nice dark green. The other one was purchased more recently and is more of a lime color like yours. I think they may just have a lighter color in general, but time will tell. 

 

Supposedly they darken up and become a very deep perfect green, but that’s coming from the guy selling them. Mine was a much darker green last summer and into fall. I’ll watch a little closer this year to see if it darkens up

My two looked like Dusty’s when they arrived. They have darkened but still a paler green. The wind damage is from the Santa Anna’s. 2 years in ground come April.

This is a 5 gallon Maxima and a 5 gallon Tuckeri I planted from DoomsDave around the same time. These palms are already 1.5-2 feet taller by comparison. Had I planted one I can understand any palms individual genetics can be good or bad. I’m going off what I’ve observed in my yard by comparing 2 of this species. 

On 3/13/2022 at 11:10 AM, BayAndroid said:

Here are these 2 sets of triples in late March 2025:

 

An update at the end of July, 2026.

22 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

An update at the end of July, 2026.

Growths going to explode from now on it looks.

Archontophoenix is one of the most variable palms I grow. I have at least two, which are without question among the most beautiful palms in my yard. Others are so so. But with enough water, they are a great genus for us here in Southern California.

Has any research or testing ever been done to figure out what an Archontophoenix teracarpa actually is? A hybrid? A new species? A variation of a known species?

The city has a bunch of these planted around town and could probably part with a frond or two for genetic testing. Emails to any of the research bodies in the state hasn't generated a response.

14 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Has any research or testing ever been done to figure out what an Archontophoenix teracarpa actually is? A hybrid? A new species? A variation of a known species?

The city has a bunch of these planted around town and could probably part with a frond or two for genetic testing. Emails to any of the research bodies in the state hasn't generated a response.

I’m thinking hybrid. The most recent pics of these palms look more like Cunninghamiana than Maxima. So I’m thinking Maxima/Cunninghamiana hybrid. I don’t have any in my current garden. The 2 I bought and planted at my old yard were very pale to be pure Maxima. When I moved they had a few rings of trunk and did not look pure Maxima.

I would be interested in what a Archontophoenix teracarpa actually is too as it’s not something I’ve ever seen here in Australia. However there are reportedly some paler cunninghamiana somewhere out there in the wild.

Being a local San Diego guy, I believe that the name was created by the guys at a local nursery, Jungle Music. The seeds came from a particular palm at the home of Phil, the owner. Phil’s a great nurseryman, but I never got around to asking him what he felt made this particular palm different. Whenever I see the “teracarpa” designation, I know that’s the place that came from.

1 hour ago, quaman58 said:

Being a local San Diego guy, I believe that the name was created by the guys at a local nursery, Jungle Music. The seeds came from a particular palm at the home of Phil, the owner. Phil’s a great nurseryman, but I never got around to asking him what he felt made this particular palm different. Whenever I see the “teracarpa” designation, I know that’s the place that came from.

Definitely. The city government orders these from Jungle Music. The employees working at Hollis have told me this variety is the most resilient to cold out of all of the various species that they've ordered. We have Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, alexandrae, and I think a few maxima sprinkled into some spots. My thought was that it would generate enough interest for genetic testing amongst the scientific community, but to my knowledge, that hasn't happened. It would be really interesting to have genetic testing done to verify or refute some of our theories as to the origins.

Never heard of it, and Australia is the home of archontophoenix!

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

I would be interested in what a Archontophoenix teracarpa actually is too as it’s not something I’ve ever seen here in Australia. However there are reportedly some paler cunninghamiana somewhere out there in the wild.

So what’s the name of the one that has a flush of colour in the new leaf then?

3 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Never heard of it, and Australia is the home of archontophoenix!

The dominant theories are that this is:

• A hybrid that occurred at Phil Bergman's Jungle Music nursery in California.

• A variety of one of the known species.

While it is possible it was an undiscovered distinct species that slipped into a seed batch, my personal thoughts were always a hybrid similar to @James B above. Genetic testing would put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

I think many nurseries have hybrid happening accidentally as they keep flowering specimens of multiple palms that end up cross pollinating due to close proximity. At least in Phil’s case he calls it something else entirely. I have 3 Archontophoenix I purchased as Maxima but they are bright purple without ramenta and clearly Purpurea hybrids. I agree with Kinzyjr that it would be great to see genetic testing done of this palm to see what it turns out to be.

58 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

The dominant theories are that this is:

• A hybrid that occurred at Phil Bergman's Jungle Music nursery in California.

• A variety of one of the known species.

While it is possible it was an undiscovered distinct species that slipped into a seed batch, my personal thoughts were always a hybrid similar to @James B above. Genetic testing would put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

Possibly an Albang then, a genetic sport from the Albang. Plants have interesting ways when it comes to hybrids F1, F2 and so on. Be an interesting back cross then.

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

So what’s the name of the one that has a flush of colour in the new leaf then?

I’ve seen A cunninghamiana, A alexandrae, A tuckeri and A maxima all throw coloured new fronds at times. Have heard reports of A myolensis doing the same but haven’t seen it myself. Never heard of A purpurea doing it. I don’t think it’s a reliable trait to distinguish between Archontophoenix sp.

1 minute ago, James B said:

I think many nurseries have hybrid happening accidentally as they keep flowering specimens of multiple palms that end up cross pollinating due to close proximity. At least in Phil’s case he calls it something else entirely. I have 3 Archontophoenix I purchased as Maxima but they are bright purple without ramenta and clearly Purpurea hybrids. I agree with Kinzyjr that it would be great to see genetic testing done of this palm to see what it turns out to be.

The hybrid debate is an intriguing one, a lot of growers say it doesn’t happen and then there is evidence of it occurring in gardens and collections. Even a hybrid in my mother in law’s garden from Butia x syagrus and that was a natural occurrence from wind or bats or some sort bird or insect. So it’s definitely happening naturally. Genetic testing would definitely help and appease all those interested in hybrids. I respect the work that goes into creating hybrids and the credit to the grower in doing so.

2 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

I’ve seen A cunninghamiana, A alexandrae, A tuckeri and A maxima all throw coloured new fronds at times. Have heard reports of A myolensis doing the same but haven’t seen it myself. Never heard of A purpurea doing it. I don’t think it’s a reliable trait to distinguish between Archontophoenix sp.

Mother Nature will always throw something new on the table over time, after all Charles Darwin was onto something good!

As has been mentioned, A ‘Teracarpa’ isn’t a thing in Aus. Have seen this pop up occasionally on Palmtalk and always been curious what the origin was - good info above.

My gut feel is it is probably a hybrid. It seems to have traits of A cunninghamiana and A alexandrae just from the photos above, but I’d be interested if anyone has close ups of any details. Do they have ramenta? Silver or green abaxial surface of leaflets? Crownshaft and trunk covered in scales? A cunninghamiana x A alexandrae and the reverse cross both generally produce robust specimens from what I’ve seen in Aus. They tend to lean slightly towards A alexandrae but with brown scales on the crownshaft and occasionally ramenta like A cunninghamiana which might be similar to these.

Hi Tim, here are couple shots of mine Purpurea hybrids. You’ll see purplish crown shafts with silver undersides of leaves but missing ramenta. I have 3 with varying degrees of purple. And I’ve noticed during summer months when a new leaf base falls off it’s not as vibrant as in spring when it’s cooler.

15 hours ago, happypalms said:

So what’s the name of the one that has a flush of colour in the new leaf then?

I have both cunninghamiana and alexandrae shooting new bronze fronds but seems to only happen in winter.