Are there different types of Queen Palms?

[Hamandah]

2 of our neighbors have queen palms. But some of them look so much wider and longer, pretty fronds vs others that have shorter, straight up fronds. From what they both told me they are all Queens. Can there just be a big difference within Queens or are there different kinds? I love the longer more luscious, longer fronds look! 

[Fusca]

  On 4/7/2024 at 4:38 PM, Hamandah said:

2 of our neighbors have queen palms. But some of them look so much wider and longer, pretty fronds vs others that have shorter, straight up fronds. From what they both told me they are all Queens. Can there just be a big difference within Queens or are there different kinds? I love the longer more luscious, longer fronds look! 

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There is some variation within the species of Syagrus romanzoffiana (queen) and also several different Syagrus species that look a lot like the common queen.  Here is a weepy one that I planted last fall and another that I found locally that has an unusual amount of purple coloring on the leaf bases.

[Harry’s Palms]

I have a few that I planted as canopy palms when I first moved to this house many years ago. Some are much taller than the others and some have thicker trunks but they all looked identical when planted. I have a couple that some refer to as Super Queens , I haven’t heard that term in20 years . I just think it is a highly variable species. Some are just much more robust and faster growing. Harry

[Patrick]

Yea, there is diversity in the species as to form. There is a house down the street from me that has a queen that is all tight leaved and scrubby. Lots of variation if you look hard enough and pay attention

[BayAndroid]

I like this example where there are 3 queens, 2 are identical and 1 in the front here has a dark foliage, thicker leaflets and a bit of tighter crown. 

[Merlyn]

There's definitely variation in Queen aka Syagrus Romanzoffiana.  I have 9 in my yard, and they are mostly the "robust" kind with long fronds and draping leaflets.  But a couple definitely have skinnier trunks and smaller fronds, despite being planted all near each other at about the same time and with identical water and fertilizing.  I read someone say that most of the nursery stock is now the more robust kind.

[Hamandah]

  On 4/8/2024 at 5:43 PM, Merlyn said:

There's definitely variation in Queen aka Syagrus Romanzoffiana.  I have 9 in my yard, and they are mostly the "robust" kind with long fronds and draping leaflets.  But a couple definitely have skinnier trunks and smaller fronds, despite being planted all near each other at about the same time and with identical water and fertilizing.  I read someone say that most of the nursery stock is now the more robust kind.

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Interesting! Are they actual different kinds I wonder or just variation of the same plant and you just don’t know what you’ll get? I wonder if there’s a way to figure that out when they’re small 

[Hamandah]

  On 4/8/2024 at 5:03 PM, BayAndroid said:

I like this example where there are 3 queens, 2 are identical and 1 in the front here has a dark foliage, thicker leaflets and a bit of tighter crown. 

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Wow! They look so different? 

[Hamandah]

  On 4/8/2024 at 2:04 AM, Harry’s Palms said:

I have a few that I planted as canopy palms when I first moved to this house many years ago. Some are much taller than the others and some have thicker trunks but they all looked identical when planted. I have a couple that some refer to as Super Queens , I haven’t heard that term in20 years . I just think it is a highly variable species. Some are just much more robust and faster growing. Harry

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Interesting! So it sounds like I just won’t know what we’ll get. I wonder if there is any way to identify how they’ll look when they are smaller?

[Harry’s Palms]

I don’t know of any way to tell but someone else may have more information on them. Harry

[Scott W]

There are said to be variations thay have more cold hardiness (Silver queen, Santa Catarina), but outside of that there are not different types of Syagrus romanzoffiana.   That being said, it's possible some growers or sellers pass off other syagrus as "queens", either knowingly or unknowingly.   There are also the rare hybrids out there....