Tahina spectabilis on a growth spurt

[PalmatierMeg]

I walked the Garden Lot around noon today and the heat and swelter were overbearing. I noticed my juvenile Tahina spectabilis has sent up several pristine leaves after growing little in summer 2023 or winter 2024. During Hurricane Ian in 2022 it was crushed by falling Livistonas and Bismarckias. I really thought it was a goner but gradually it produced leaves again from its underground meristem. Summer 2023 was hot and drought-stricken. We got less rain that rainy season than we got the previous winter. Winter 2024 was chilly, cloudy (94+ days of clouds) and wet - just what tropical palms hate and mine limped into spring with a lot of yellow cold-spotted leaves.

But since the heat and normal rainfall have returned my beleaguered palms are happily growing again, my lone Tahina included

Tahina spectabilis, Cape Coral, FL, July 2024

[sonoranfans]

Great to see Meg!  ALooking forward to the updates!  Wish I had the space for one!

[bgl]

Meg,

Your Tahina looks wonderful and it's great to see it do so well. I have found out from numerous personal experiences that Tahinas are tough palms and they don't give up easily. Even in cases when oblivions seems to be right around the corner - they come back, slowly at first but then picking up speed.  They respond well to heat, lots of rainfall and a good supply of soil. 

Best of luck with yours - it's doing great !

Bo-Göran

[Nico971]

Amazing. 
Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought Tahina seeds were available only a few times. And I thought that most of them were from the same generation so way older. 
how old is yours ? 
 

[happypalms]

They are incredibly rare in my area and those that have them know what they have and won’t part with them the old saying is they are are as rare as chickens teeth you’re one looks amazing I will endeavour to source one but I doubt I will find one.

[SeanK]

Sometimes neglect is the best medicine. Glad it's doing well for you.

[Cindy Adair]

I am so glad to see another hurricane survivor palm looking wonderful Meg!

[Harry’s Palms]

Nice looking palm , Meg. I like the lighter green of the new frond against the darker green of the older ones. Harry

[PalmatierMeg]

  On 7/19/2024 at 8:56 PM, Nico971 said:

Amazing. 
Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought Tahina seeds were available only a few times. And I thought that most of them were from the same generation so way older. 
how old is yours ? 
 

Expand  

Thanks, All.

I believe my palm is from a seed distribution in Madagascar some years back. I didn't get it then but a few years later I was contacted by a PTer in Fort Myers who had a small one in a 3g but wanted to trade with me for his Tahina. He had a small lot and no room for a palm that grows as huge as this species does. Also, Tahina are extremely averse to pot culture so this palm had to go in the ground ASAP. So I planted it in as much open space as I could find on my Garden Lot. Of course, that means it is open to the sky and FL weather - no canopy. It has grown slowly and sometimes struggled over the years as well as potentially meeting its Maker when assaulted by Hurricanes Irma and Ian. Each storm required 2+ years of recovery to get back to the "old normal". But this summer it seems to have made a growth leap assuming we don't face down another cat 4/5 hurricane.

[realarch]

Thanks for the post Meg. The shades of green are striking, it’s almost glowing. Beautiful little specimen.

Palm survivors, regardless of genus, are always looked at with a bit of admiration because of their tenacity. So glad that your Tahina has pulled through and continues to give you pleasure and inspiration.

Tim

 

[PalmatierMeg]

Thanks, Tim

[Daryl]

Looks nice and healthy now Meg!

[PalmatierMeg]

  On 7/19/2024 at 10:26 PM, happypalms said:

They are incredibly rare in my area and those that have them know what they have and won’t part with them the old saying is they are are as rare as chickens teeth you’re one looks amazing I will endeavour to source one but I doubt I will find one.

Expand  

I was talking with a local nursery owner today about Tahinas and he told me they are pretty much unavailable either as seeds or plants and no sign any adults in Madagascar plan to flower in the future. A grower over in Homestead has very large ones for $30,000.

[realarch]

That is some major money! I had heard awhile back that the last large seed batch that came in was bad. A rumor through the grapevine and have no idea if it’s true or not. 

Tim

[happypalms]

  On 7/21/2024 at 1:12 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

I was talking with a local nursery owner today about Tahinas and he told me they are pretty much unavailable either as seeds or plants and no sign any adults in Madagascar plan to flower in the future. A grower over in Homestead has very large ones for $30,000.

Expand  

 Now that’s  exspensive for a palm I guess someone will pay it some collectors will go to any amount of money to get what they want if one does flower it will be worth more than an ounce of gold just for one seed that’s rare plants for you.

[Mandrew968]

Yesterday at MBC. Our biggest one.

[blackman uhuru]

  On 7/19/2024 at 10:26 PM, happypalms said:

They are incredibly rare in my area and those that have them know what they have and won’t part with them the old saying is they are are as rare as chickens teeth you’re one looks amazing I will endeavour to source one but I doubt I will find one.

Expand  

Tahinas grow wild in northern Uganda my mother land. I love them a lot. We eat their fruit kernels and discard their seeds. I wonder if they could have oil?

[Merlyn]

@Mandrew968 you don't quite grasp the scale of the palm until there's a golf cart next to it...looking like a little child's toy cart.   

There was (I think) a really big Tahina in an open field area in the SW side of Fairchild.  The last time I was there it had been severely damaged in a hurricane and was staked upright again.  Is that one still growing?

[happypalms]

  On 4/5/2025 at 5:45 PM, blackman uhuru said:

Tahinas grow wild in northern Uganda my mother land. I love them a lot. We eat their fruit kernels and discard their seeds. I wonder if they could have oil?

Expand  

Eating the fruit would be a wonderful experience, if only you knew how valuable that little seed was. Iam sure your mother would have said keep those seeds knowing how valuable a plant is now. And if they did have oil it would be one exspensive oil.

[Hilo Jason]

  On 4/5/2025 at 5:45 PM, blackman uhuru said:

Tahinas grow wild in northern Uganda my mother land. I love them a lot. We eat their fruit kernels and discard their seeds. I wonder if they could have oil?

Expand  

I think you might be mistaking Borassus for Tahina?  Tahina is endemic to Madagascar, but there are many Borassus throughout northern Uganda.  Here are a couple of Borassus photos I took in the area around Murchison Falls: