Archontophoenix myolensis in habitat

[johnnymak]

Thought I'd go for a drive and see how the wild population of Archontophoenix myolensis fared post TC Jasper. The creek mouth where it meets the Barron river is a mess, and there will have been losses, but the creek itself is good, lots of smaller stuff ok despite the fact they were under many metres of water. This area in North Queensland, Australia got over 2metres of rainfall in just over a week, less that a month ago.

Edited January 23, 2024 by johnnymak
Clarity

[Tyrone]

Wow. Those seedlings are tough. The amount of water that flew past them in the last month……….

[tim_brissy_13]

That’s great! I thought it was documented that only about 40 remained but looks like the next generation is coming through nicely. It’s on my bucket list to get up to this spot to check them out. 

[richnorm]

Two metres in a week!  That's crazy though I did get 30cm in one day last year.  I have a few myolensis doing well here where they can get into the water table. 

[happypalms]

Nice one Johnnymak keep up the photography now how do I get a dozen of those seeds of you 😄

[johnnymak]

2 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

That’s great! I thought it was documented that only about 40 remained but looks like the next generation is coming through nicely. It’s on my bucket list to get up to this spot to check them out. 

Tim, closer to 100 mature palms, lots of small stuff, but very little in between, which is concerning..

[Tyrone]

12 hours ago, johnnymak said:

Tim, closer to 100 mature palms, lots of small stuff, but very little in between, which is concerning..

This is a “must grow” for at least us Aussies. The rarest Archontophoenix in the wild by far. 

[James B]

30 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

This is a “must grow” for at least us Aussies. The rarest Archontophoenix in the wild by far. 

Any insight why this specific Archontophoenix is the least successful? With Alexandrae becoming naturalized in Hawaii and I can see also happening in Florida as well due to how easy they are to grow in subtropical climates. Is it just bad geographical luck of draw?

I love to hear the opinions of locals on this genus as it’s one of your natural treasures. I am in the camp of Maxima, Myolensis, and Tuckeri being regional variants of Alexandrae. 

Thanks!

[Tyrone]

8 hours ago, James B said:

Any insight why this specific Archontophoenix is the least successful? With Alexandrae becoming naturalized in Hawaii and I can see also happening in Florida as well due to how easy they are to grow in subtropical climates. Is it just bad geographical luck of draw?

I love to hear the opinions of locals on this genus as it’s one of your natural treasures. I am in the camp of Maxima, Myolensis, and Tuckeri being regional variants of Alexandrae. 

Thanks!

I’m not really a local being about 4500km away but A myolensis has a really restricted range along the stream near Myola pictured and a little bit along the Barron river ad that’s it. It’s not in any protected area as far as I know. A maxima natural area is not far away from this area but at high elevation in protected areas. The same for purpurea. 

[Tyrone]

8 hours ago, James B said:

Any insight why this specific Archontophoenix is the least successful? With Alexandrae becoming naturalized in Hawaii and I can see also happening in Florida as well due to how easy they are to grow in subtropical climates. Is it just bad geographical luck of draw?

I love to hear the opinions of locals on this genus as it’s one of your natural treasures. I am in the camp of Maxima, Myolensis, and Tuckeri being regional variants of Alexandrae. 

Thanks!

I’m not really a local being about 4500km away but A myolensis has a really restricted range along the stream near Myola pictured and a little bit along the Barron river and that’s it. It’s not in any protected area as far as I know. A maxima’s natural area is not far away from this area but at high elevation in protected areas. The same for purpurea. A tuckeri is from further north in the Cape York area in very remote territory.

I don’t really know why A myolensis is so restricted in natural range.