Archontophoenix Maxima/Purpurea hybrid?

[James B]

I bought this palm as A.Maxima and put into the ground in 10/2022. It seems to possess traits of both Maxima and Purpurea. It grows fast like Maxima but has super silver undersides whereas the other Maximas I’ve owned over the years are more muted silvery green on the undersides. Also when a new leaf base is exposed it has a combination of aqua with a little purplish hue at the base of the new crown shaft. It also has pale yellow internodes which is more of a Purpurea trait vs the smooth green internodes you usually see in Maxima. It reminds me of a Tuckeri I had in my old garden that also had these traits. Is Purpurea really that promiscuous that it readily hybridizes with other Archontophoenix more often than other subspecies? Either way it’s a cool looking palm.

 

 

 

 

[James B]

[rizla023]

Whatever it is, it’s very pretty!

[Harry’s Palms]

That is a beauty. I’m sure it will pick up steam and show more color as it grows. Harry

[PalmCode]

Yeha that palm looks like it's got purpurea traits in it. Even those reddish brown fibers on the newest ring of trunk is quite purpurea. Is there any ramenta present?

The original seed source likely had maxima and purpurea growing in close range while both were flowering. 

Nice looking palm.

[happypalms]

Interesting little specimen you have there James  a mixture of some good Aussie genetics 

[James B]

7 hours ago, PalmCode said:

Yeha that palm looks like it's got purpurea traits in it. Even those reddish brown fibers on the newest ring of trunk is quite purpurea. Is there any ramenta present?

The original seed source likely had maxima and purpurea growing in close range while both were flowering. 

Nice looking palm.

No ramenta, just silver on the undersides. But really intense silver. 

[TampaBayRay]

They dont flower at same time , were they hand pollinated?

[James B]

8 hours ago, TampaBayRay said:

They dont flower at same time , were they hand pollinated?

That I couldn’t answer myself. It’s possible though.

[Tyrone]

Definitely a lot of purpurea in there. If it had ramenta I would say pure purpurea, but without ramenta it isn’t pure. My guess it’s crossed with alexandrae. 

[James B]

2 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Definitely a lot of purpurea in there. If it had ramenta I would say pure purpurea, but without ramenta it isn’t pure. My guess it’s crossed with alexandrae. 

Tyrone thanks for the input! It was sold as A.Maxima. Anything you see that makes you think Alexandrae over Maxima?

[Tyrone]

Alexandrae and maxima are hard to tell apart at a young age, as are myolensis and tuckeri. Alexandrae are just the most common available. It couldn’t have crossed with cunninghamiana as it would have ramenta then. Archontophoenix purpurea and cunninghamiana are the only ones with ramenta. So just going on the likelihood of probabilities, your palm looks like purpurea but with no ramenta, it’s got a lot of purpurea in it with alexandrae being the most likely one to cross with, but without doing a DNA test I could only say it hasn’t crossed with cunninghamiana.