Motlife Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I've noticed these palms by a motel in Nelson NZ. They look like queen's to me, except with much more bunched up fronds. I haven't seen them anywhere else, and queens are common here. There are two of them in the row next to more normal looking queens. I couldn't see another syagrus that looked similar to these. Anyone know if they are a variety of queen, or something else? Cheers! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awkonradi Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 Thanks for posting these. Those are rather freaky, but they do seem vigorous. 1 Andrei W. Konradi, Burlingame, California. Vicarious appreciator of palms in other people's gardens and in habitat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlyn Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I'd guess either a mutant Queen or a consistent but mild boron deficiency...not enough to cause severe damage but enough to mess up the growth. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ep264 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John hovancsek Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 The one looks like ravenea rivalaris but the rest look like queen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Las Palmas Norte Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 What are these funky looking queens? Sounds like lyrics from a 70's disco song. I wonder if these have always grown with this appearance or is it a recent development? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLM Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 7 hours ago, John hovancsek said: The one looks like ravenea rivalaris but the rest look like queen Was kinda thinking the same thing. Frond bases look different than the actual Queens there, and the fronds look very different. The actual leaflets have vitually no space between them and they are flat i guess? Im not sure how to describe it but the leaflets on a queen are not as even as that is. However, the trunk looks like a queen. I am completely lost here lol Palms - 4 S. romanzoffiana, 2 W. bifurcata, 4 W. robusta, 2 R. rivularis, 1 B. odorata, 1 B. nobilis, 2 S. palmetto, 1 A. merillii, 3 P. sylvestris, 1 BxJ, 1 BxJxBxS, 2 BxS, 2 L. chinensis, 1 C. nucifera, 1 P. roebelenii, 1 H. lagenicaulis, 1 H. verschaffeltii, 1 T. fortunei, 1 C. humilis, 1 C. cataractarum, 1 S. repens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motlife Posted March 20 Author Report Share Posted March 20 Thanks for the thoughts all. Some of my thoughts about the ideas: Boron deficiency: NZ soils generally are deficient in boron, however the one next to it seems normal, and there are hundreds of queens around and they all look more or less the same as the taller palm. Mutation: I wondered that, or some hybrid, but if it is it must come from the same parents as the one at the end of the row as that looks much the same as the one I took a close up of Majesty: They're not so common here, and I only know of one nearby. The trunks don't have the wide tapering thing going on either. Is there one particular thing I could look for that would confirm it as being one or the other next time I'm over that way? Or something in particular I could take a photo of? I went for a look on streetview and there's a shot from Dec 2009: The second shot is the palm on the right of the bottom picture in the first post. They do look different than the regular queen then, but maybe not as weird as now. Here's the streetview link if anyone wants a look on that: https://www.google.com/maps/@-41.2704079,173.2809927,3a,15y,0.94h,87.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgyBAEPYoGDW8SOMJJuc4OA!2e0!5s20091201T000000!7i13312!8i6656 Thanks for the advice everyone, it's a weird one! I quite like them though to be honest, I'm going to keep an eye out if they get seed on them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Los Altos Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 (edited) Looks like boron deficiency to me. It will affect one palm more than the other. You can have a row of same species palms and one or two may be showing signs of a mineral deficiency while the others aren’t. That’s definitely not a Ravenea rivularis though. Edited March 20 by Jim in Los Altos 2 Jim in Los Altos, CA SF Bay Area 37.34N- 122.13W- 190' above sea level zone 10a/9b sunset zone 16 300+ palms, 90+ species in the ground Las Palmas Design Facebook Page Las Palmas Design & Associates Elegant Homes and Gardens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motlife Posted March 21 Author Report Share Posted March 21 Thanks for that. Is there anything that would confirm it, like a close up of the leaves or something? I do kinda like the look of them! They look pretty healthy, very dark green fronds. Definitely funky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Tex Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 2 hours ago, Motlife said: Thanks for that. Is there anything that would confirm it, like a close up of the leaves or something? I do kinda like the look of them! They look pretty healthy, very dark green fronds. Definitely funky! I think really the only thing to truly confirm it is to get the soil tested. Inground- 1x Syagrus romanzoffiana 2x Livingstona Chinensis 5x Phoenix Robelleni In Pots- 3x Sabal Mexicana 5x Phoenix dactylifera 4x Sabal Palmetto 3x Livingstona Chinensis 3x Ravenea Rivularis 6x Cycas Revoluta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 Brings to mind "leaning crown syndrome." I haven't ever seen that in a Queen, but very common with Howea forsteriana where it can be very obvious and pronounced; also in Archontophoenix, but rarely. Is that the boron deficiency being mentioned? Kim Cyr Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motlife Posted March 23 Author Report Share Posted March 23 I don't think I'm keen to dig up some soil from a random motel for testing, as much as I'd like to know the answer! From a quick Google it seems nobody knows the cause of leaning crown syndrome. The one on the right looks a bit leany for sure, but the one on the left is fairly symmetrical, just with the weird leaves. There's a reasonable number of archontophoenix and a number of kentia around this area and I've never seen any similar issues, either leaning or funky leaves. Or on any other palm species either. The boron deficiency seems to be the most likely, but looking at the article posted about it by Merlyn the symptoms don't match super well. Next time I'm there I'll see if accordion leaf is potentially occurring as that was mentioned as a symptom in the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now