Allagoptera arenaria, spathe?

[gurugu]

I hadn't noticed it until this morning. It doesn't look like new growth, but an inflorescence, right?

It's the first time I see it on this palm.

If it develops properly and sets seeds, will they be fertile, being the first time to do so?

What do you think?IMG20240528082345.heic

[gurugu]

[PalmatierMeg]

Yes, that's a spathe. I have two large arenaria and a large brevicaulis. Is your palm flowering for the first time? It's not uncommon for young palms to produce non-viable seeds for their first crop or two. My largest arenaria did. Allagopteras are monoecious, i.e., male and female flowers on each palm so at some point yours should produce viable seeds. Here in SWFL arenaria seeds ripen late in the year. The fruit is bright orange when ripe.

[Looking Glass]

Mine are young, but started flowering last year.  Ripe seeds smell like a tropical drink.  

[gurugu]

31 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Yes, that's a spathe. I have two large arenaria and a large brevicaulis. Is your palm flowering for the first time? It's not uncommon for young palms to produce non-viable seeds for their first crop or two. My largest arenaria did. Allagopteras are monoecious, i.e., male and female flowers on each palm so at some point yours should produce viable seeds. Here in SWFL arenaria seeds ripen late in the year. The fruit is bright orange when ripe.

Yes, it is its first flowering. I didn't expect it to happen, because it is quite young and slow. Only 1 or 2 leaves a year. And Spring has been rather cool/cold so far.

First crop with Archontophoenix C. and Lyttocaryum W. were viable, but not with other palms.

If they ripe late in the year, I'll have trouble with my winter low temperatures, I'm afraid.

21 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

Mine are young, but started flowering last year.  Ripe seeds smell like a tropical drink.  

Mine is also young, but not as big as yours.

I wish I could grow Croton Petra outdoors. Not even inside an unheated greenhouse. Other varieties did survive, but not this one.

[Looking Glass]

2 hours ago, gurugu said:

Yes, it is its first flowering. I didn't expect it to happen, because it is quite young and slow. Only 1 or 2 leaves a year. And Spring has been rather cool/cold so far.

First crop with Archontophoenix C. and Lyttocaryum W. were viable, but not with other palms.

If they ripe late in the year, I'll have trouble with my winter low temperatures, I'm afraid.

Mine is also young, but not as big as yours.

I wish I could grow Croton Petra outdoors. Not even inside an unheated greenhouse. Other varieties did survive, but not this one.

Those are actually Stoplight.   They have a thinner, longer leaf and are more sun tolerant than Petra.  Not sure how much cold they take.  

Here’s some Petra in more shade. 

[gurugu]

7 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Those are actually Stoplight.   They have a thinner, longer leaf and are more sun tolerant than Petra.  Not sure how much cold they take.  

Here’s some Petra in more shade. 

I think that's the same croton that survived for me here .

So, it is called " Spotlight". Thanks.

The other one is more yellowish. Do you know its name?

Streptosolen jamessonii is blooming like mad this year in the greenhouse. It started 2 months ago.

[Looking Glass]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:40 AM, gurugu said:

I think that's the same croton that survived for me here .

So, it is called " Spotlight". Thanks.

The other one is more yellowish. Do you know its name?

Streptosolen jamessonii is blooming like mad this year in the greenhouse. It started 2 months ago.

The yellow one looks like “Sunny Star” to me.  That one is another great one for heavy sun.  It has a lot of green in the shade, and turns almost pure yellow in full sun and heat.  

The one below doesn’t look like Stoplight.   I don’t know what it is.   There are so many types of crotons, mostly variants of a handful of leaf shapes, and a handful of color patterns, all mixed together in different combos.   But croton people are splitters, not lumpers, so they enjoy expanding new categories and subtypes.