Chamaedorea Radicalis TREE form or Bush Form

[Carolpalms]

Does anyone know from the photos whether this is a tree form of the radicalis or a bush form ? 

I have been sold this as a Tree Form.  I have been skeptical.  Received it in the winter of this past year, Planted in the summer.

Almost the same size as when I bought.  Hopefully someone is familiar with this palm,  Thank you in advance, Carol

[peachy]

I am not 100% sure on this one but the trunk grew quite quickly on mine, whereas my non trunking one is a slow grower all over.

Peachy

[Hillizard]

This should give you some idea of what your tree form Chamaedorea radicalis could look like in a few years. Mine gets shade from a roof overhang, so it never suffers from direct sunlight.  It's been in the ground for over five years.  Composition of this shot was the best I could take in a crowded space. The 'bush' form of this palm grows much slower in my experience.

[Carolpalms]

I am still not sure.  Thank you for the pics and comments.

I believed this to be the bush form since almost all the fronds were coming out to the sides instead of up.

Tried by emailing to address this with the seller, but no response.  I reversed my credit card payment

letting him know that I would definitely refund the money once I found out for certain that this was not the bush form.

I had specifically ordered tree form.

The last frond that came out is coming straight up as if to grow a taller palm. But most are to the sides.  

Does anyone know another source I could find out helping me to be more certain.  

Thanks all, Carol

[Carolpalms]

Hillizard, does your tree form radicalis throw fronds to the sides even though it is growing tall.

Think I see 2 fronds coming up toward the bottom.

Don't know how tall your radicalis is.  Thanks 

[bubba]

Here are a few specimens of Chamaedorea radicalis from Four Arts in PB:

[bubba]

A few more

[Harry’s Palms]

This tree form is just starting to form a trunk . It is about 3-4 years from first emerging , seed grown in mostly shade. the one below gets a bit more sun but much older , about 8’ tall. All of mine are seed grown right where they are. I have a bunch that all came from an original group of Tree Form Radicalis that I acquired about 30 years ago. Harryobscured by the vine but you can see the stems in the middle of the photo

[peachy]

4 hours ago, bubba said:

A few more

I think those are Chamaedorea metallica. Radicalis has feather leaves. Sorry about that.

[bubba]

Wrong again!

[bubba]

Attempt at correction:

https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Chamaedorea_radicalis

[Carolpalms]

Oh, guys, you have really helped me to make a decision.  So helpful on this forum.

It looks like 3 to 4 years before trunking.

My decision to wait to refund the money to the seller is wise at this point as it is only 1 year.

Wait is wise

Thank you Bubba for all the pics and to Peachy and to Harry's Palms.  All this helped.

Still don't trust this to be tree form.  

Blessings

[Hillizard]

15 hours ago, Carolpalms said:

Hillizard, does your tree form radicalis throw fronds to the sides even though it is growing tall.

Think I see 2 fronds coming up toward the bottom.

Don't know how tall your radicalis is.  Thanks 

Carol: My tree-form C. radicalis puts out some of its blooming spikes low down on the stem. That's what you're seeing there. The trunk is over 6 feet in height (growing in shade).  I got both types of this species from Phil (J/M).

[Fusca]

40 minutes ago, Hillizard said:

Carol: My tree-form C. radicalis puts out some of its blooming spikes low down on the stem. That's what you're seeing there. The trunk is over 6 feet in height (growing in shade).  I got both types of this species from Phil (J/M).

That's what I understood from @Darold Petty - position of the inflorescences from the trunk is a good indication of trunking vs non-trunking.

[Harry’s Palms]

About two to three years after I got my Radicalis I took a bunch of seeds down to Phil. He gave me a discount on a few palms. I told him that I had babies popping up in my garden from a batch of seeds so I knew they were viable. So far all have ended up with trunks. I constantly distribute around to fill in under other palms. Harry

[Patrick]

5 hours ago, Carolpalms said:

Oh, guys, you have really helped me to make a decision.  So helpful on this forum.

It looks like 3 to 4 years before trunking.

My decision to wait to refund the money to the seller is wise at this point as it is only 1 year.

Wait is wise

Thank you Bubba for all the pics and to Peachy and to Harry's Palms.  All this helped.

Still don't trust this to be tree form.  

Blessings

If you really were holding out for a radicalis tree form, just lurk around the freebies forum there always seems to be a post up for free seeds; or just contact @DoomsDave directly. Then you can grow your own. They're easy to sprout. 

 

I believe it to be possible that a tree form mother plant will make some seeds/ offspring that wind up not being tree form because of genetics. So to the sellers defense this may be the case. 

[ahosey01]

5 hours ago, Carolpalms said:

Oh, guys, you have really helped me to make a decision.  So helpful on this forum.

It looks like 3 to 4 years before trunking.

My decision to wait to refund the money to the seller is wise at this point as it is only 1 year.

Wait is wise

Thank you Bubba for all the pics and to Peachy and to Harry's Palms.  All this helped.

Still don't trust this to be tree form.  

Blessings

To reverse your credit card payment here seems a little harsh.  Many very highly reputable sellers of plants sell the incorrect stuff all the time - not out of bad faith, but because of seed variability, potential for unknown hybridization, variation of the phenotype of the plant, growing conditions, accidental label swaps, etc.  

In fact - just the other day I purchased a palm that was fairly expensive ($120 with shipping) from a very reputable seller in San Diego that was absolutely not what it was sold as, but the confusion was not entirely unreasonable.  In your case - even you don’t know for sure that you got the wrong thing, you’re just not sure you got the right one.  The palm business is already losing growers of more interesting material at an unsustainable rate, and interactions like this will disincentivize small growers from doing business in the future.  

It wasn’t like the seller claimed to sell you a queen palm and instead sent you a windmill palm.  He or she sold you the exact species you purchased, you’re just not certain the form is correct.  And if this is anything like Sabal ‘Lisa’  or green Bismarckia for example - it’s possible that there is variability in the form from seed, even if the mother plant was one or another type.