Blue Chrysalidocarpus decipiens from Floribunda

[tinman10101]

I was just wondering how everyone's is doing.  I believe this was the first time they were made available and I purchased two but unfortunately one died. This one is doing pretty well in my greenhouse which gets misted every hour on the hour. It is still displaying some distichous growth.  I won't plant mine until another couple of years, but the last leaf that is opening now is quite large and happy 😁 

 

[Patrick]

...And those Rhapis back there are some real lookers, too! 

[Harry’s Palms]

Real nice Tin. +1 on the Rhapis. 

[tinman10101]

2 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Real nice Tin. +1 on the Rhapis. 

Thanks Harry. I actually have a couple in my greenhouse I divided from my main stem that was spreading too fast in my garden.  Seems to me these variegated ones are slow growers until one day, ... they suddenly start shooting up everywhere. 

[Alberto]

C. decipiens are known for the fact that they dislike hot humidity. They prefer cooler climates with lots of air movement.  I was wondering that maybe the other one, that died,  did not like the conditions in the greenhouse.

[tinman10101]

You are probably correct Albert.  I had one that I grew for 12 years and of course I killed it  in the ground because I neglected to see a sprinkler head hitting it over a couple of months.  This was also during our new baby so my priorities changed.  

This one from Jeff is special since I believe it displays a bluish tinge to the leaflets and of course, growing in HIlo, can withstand all the rain and/or humidity.  In any case, I will try to dig up some photos of it from Jeff that he posted years ago.  

[tinman10101]

Here is a post referring to Jeff's blue decipien:

 

 

[floridaPalmMan]

Here are a few after a hot and humid northern Florida summer in 1 gallon pots.

 

 

The palms that were put into my regular hand made soil mix are doing very well but the one experimental (mostly rock and hydroton for maximal root aeration) is dying and on its way out unfortunately. I've read that they hated wet feet so this was an attempt to see what would happen and it looks to have failed since I'm already fighting an uphill battle being in Florida.

[flplantguy]

I will post a photo of my two later (long day), they are still in the 4 inch pots from Jeff. One just had a mysterious issue with a new frond and it bent and started to die, and they both have some brown spotting on older leaves. They also do not like excessive heat, my better of the two had its new frond leaning against the rim of a black plastic pot and it now has a slight burn.  The true decipiens seedlings i got died rapidly and im not sure why, but multiple possible factors. These are better with heat than that, mine have been outside all summer and get full sun at midday right now.  I have had a few nights in the mid 80s this summer after Hurricane Debby, but they are mostly 74 to 77 and very gigh humidity. I also tend to water a lot but am concerned i may water too much, so i want to use a fast draining mix so it doesnt sit wet.  Most palms seem to like water the same way orchids do, frequent but not constant and this one seems somewhat the same, if daily misting/watering doesn't kill them.  I will plant them in the sand that drains sharply for when we get non stop rains, east sun hopefully for heat protection.

[Josue Diaz]

I put my seedlings directly in the ground (I think they came as 4 inch from Floribunda). I'll remember to snap a few photos when I get home! 

Yours look huge btw! Did you get them as 4-inchers?

[tinman10101]

3 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

I put my seedlings directly in the ground (I think they came as 4 inch from Floribunda). I'll remember to snap a few photos when I get home! 

Yours look huge btw! Did you get them as 4-inchers?

Thanks Josue.  I got them in his first release on the floribunda site but not sure what size they were.  I think they were 4" seedlings.  mine grows throughout winter since its south facing wall and heats up during the day.  i think that helps a lot.

[flplantguy]

As promised, looking a little stressed i think. Hoping september cools a bit and they all respond to it with better growth.  Note the pot rim burn stripe on the right, that happened yesterday so i moved it a bit to more dappled light under a taller plant. They were doing fine until it got hotter this last month or so.

[Josue Diaz]

Here are mine. They have done super well through summer.

I did the same with a 4-inch prestoniana many years ago and it worked really well for me. 

[SCVpalmenthusiast]

On 8/30/2024 at 5:31 PM, Josue Diaz said:

Here are mine. They have done super well through summer.

I did the same with a 4-inch prestoniana many years ago and it worked really well for me. 

Hey TinTin, 

I saw your thread of your yard from 09 to 2021 ( I think that was the last update). Very impressive. I live in Santa Clarita as well, but closer down south toward Newhall/Stevenson Ranch area.  Do you think a King Palm would survive in this zone? Online it says i'm in zone 10, but I saw you mention zone 9. I have lived here for 11 years and have never seen snow. I do recall a few years back some folks from Canyon Country mentioned seeing snow, but i've never seen it in my area.  Also, where do you buy your palms?

[tinman10101]

2 hours ago, SCVpalmenthusiast said:

Hey TinTin, 

I saw your thread of your yard from 09 to 2021 ( I think that was the last update). Very impressive. I live in Santa Clarita as well, but closer down south toward Newhall/Stevenson Ranch area.  Do you think a King Palm would survive in this zone? Online it says i'm in zone 10, but I saw you mention zone 9. I have lived here for 11 years and have never seen snow. I do recall a few years back some folks from Canyon Country mentioned seeing snow, but i've never seen it in my area.  Also, where do you buy your palms?

King palms do just fine in our area. I have several in my garden that have been seeding for a couple of years.  If you can plant in filtered light, they won't burn as bad during the summer and look much better.  I PM you with details of you want to check out my garden.  Cheers

Tin

[realarch]

Beautiful palm, good luck. It’s well worth the time and effort.

Tim

[Robbertico18]

Totally spaced out and forgot to protect my blue DD during our freak snow storm late January and it’s pushing new growth now 

[flplantguy]

Thats crazy and impressive! Hopefully heat is similar or better and it thrives in the southeast, that would be a huge (but slow) garden changer if so. 

[BayAndroid]

31 minutes ago, Robbertico18 said:

Totally spaced out and forgot to protect my blue DD during our freak snow storm late January and it’s pushing new growth now 

Wow..... 

[tinman10101]

Recent update in greenhouse where it's 85f+ and 70%+ humidity consistently throughout the year. 

 

[tinman10101]

Heard it resembles closely to betafaka from good friend. Regardless still something cool to be had. 

[mnorell]

I bought one of these from Floribunda and in conversation with Jeff, he told me what he sells as "blue decipiens' is indeed the same thing that used to be called 'betafaka.' He also said that the story of its identity is rather complicated and that he is fairly confident that it is not an actual decipiens.

[LJG]

Glad you got one of these. Yours is doing great - especially for a palm that can be a bit fastidious. One of my favorites in my yard. Here is mine now flowering. This came as a 7 gallon from JDA in 2008. Little more history on the palm. JDA had two similar palms at the time “Betefaka” and “Honkona” (note the ‘o’). Both grew very similar. Betefaka being more glaucous, Hankona green. This is the plant Ron Lawyer once called the “butt-ugly betefaka” because the original Betefaka was such a looker from a young age. That original betefaka turned into Oropedionis.

[iDesign]

3 hours ago, LJG said:

Glad you got one of these. Yours is doing great - especially for a palm that can be a bit fastidious. One of my favorites in my yard. Here is mine now flowering. This came as a 7 gallon from JDA in 2008. Little more history on the palm. JDA had two similar palms at the time “Betefaka” and “Hankona” (note the ‘a’). Both grew very similar. Betefaka being more glaucous, Hankona green. This is the plant Ron Lawyer once called the “butt-ugly betefaka” because the original Betefaka was such a looker from a young age. That original betefaka turned into Oropedionis.

Thanks so much for posting this! Gives me hope since I bought a "butt-ugly Betafaka" from Ron Lawyer 12/2023, and mine is still in the BU phase. Here's mine when I bought it...

And a quick pic I took today (a little over a year later)...

if you get a moment, could you please post a pic of the top of yours as well?

Now that I know it has a chance here in CA, I need to make sure to give it lots of room, just in case it does as well as yours!

[LJG]

That’s a great size to plant out!  Here is mine today.

 

[tim_brissy_13]

1 hour ago, LJG said:

That’s a great size to plant out!  Here is mine today.

 

Amazing Len!

@richnorm what do you reckon…to me this looks like the decipiens I saw throughout NZ (Landsendt, Auckland BGs, South Pacific Palms). The blue fronds, plumose leaflet arrangement and even orange freshly exposed crownshaft. I didn’t see large ones of what I know as the typical form at all over your side of the ditch. 
 

[richnorm]

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Amazing Len!

@richnorm what do you reckon…to me this looks like the decipiens I saw throughout NZ (Landsendt, Auckland BGs, South Pacific Palms). The blue fronds, plumose leaflet arrangement and even orange freshly exposed crownshaft. I didn’t see large ones of what I know as the typical form at all over your side of the ditch. 
 

 

Yep, you have a good eye Tim, I think all came in a single importation by Keith Boyer back in the 90's. Some have poker straight petiole/rachis and some are recurved but all are huge and have very thick plumose bluish foliage. I have had the odd green one with softer leaflets and less plumosity which turned up in Ambositrae seed but they all croaked.   Luckily I found a grower with a large crop of Ambos this summer and found five more.  Three are here and two are in a mate's garden so fingers crossed this time.Not sure if decipiens or hybrid but they are very attractive when they get some size. here's one:

[mnorell]

12 hours ago, LJG said:

Glad you got one of these. Yours is doing great - especially for a palm that can be a bit fastidious. One of my favorites in my yard. Here is mine now flowering. This came as a 7 gallon from JDA in 2008. Little more history on the palm. JDA had two similar palms at the time “Betefaka” and “Hankona” (note the ‘a’). Both grew very similar. Betefaka being more glaucous, Hankona green. This is the plant Ron Lawyer once called the “butt-ugly betefaka” because the original Betefaka was such a looker from a young age. That original betefaka turned into Oropedionis.

So Len, per Jeff's comment to me, I assume then the 'blue decipiens'/'old betafaka' he sells would most likely be Jerry Andersen's version and not the actual species of C. oropedionis, since Jeff also sells C. oropedionis...? I also have a small 'hankona' and since both are small plants, I can't say much about their differences except that I can already see that the 'blue decipiens' is definitely more glaucous than the 'hankona,' which is indeed greenish in aspect. Both of mine are still just 4-inchers. The 'blue decipiens' definitely seems to be pretty tough at a small age since it has not yet balked at anything out here in furnace-land (aka Palm Springs area). I assume it will develop similarly to the one you picture here from your garden. But not very encouraging for my seedling to look like anything when you say yours has been growing from a 7gal back in 2008! Yikes...and this is the reason I'm growing Roystonea oleracea (seedling to 15' in about three years) and enjoying a volunteer 'filibusta' that popped up as a blade of grass in 2020 and now is pushing 20' with a quite girthy trunk. LOL, I'm glad I love lots of other types of plants or I'd be twiddling my thumbs into eternity while waiting for the palms to 'show themselves.' 

[shepcs]

Here’s the one I got from Ron.  Hope it looks like those one day

 

[Billeb]

On 6/6/2025 at 4:08 PM, tinman10101 said:

Recent update in greenhouse where it's 85f+ and 70%+ humidity consistently throughout the year. 

Tin,

Looks killer! Just plant it out already. But where?!?!! 🤣🤣 

 

On 6/7/2025 at 10:40 AM, iDesign said:

…"butt-ugly Betafaka" from Ron Lawyer 12/2023, 

Now that I know it has a chance here in CA, I need to make sure to give it lots of room, just in case it does as well as yours!

Stacey,

I remember seeing that plant at Ron’s but he didn’t want to sell it at the time. I ended buying a regular Decipiens and I’m happy to say it’s a fast one so I’m happy. Good luck with yours. 

 

On 6/7/2025 at 2:30 PM, LJG said:

That’s a great size to plant out!  Here is mine today.

 

Len,

Wow!! That looks awesome. Can definitely tell it’s a different plant that true Decipiens. Well done. 
 

3 hours ago, shepcs said:

Here’s the one I got from Ron.  Hope it looks like those one day

Going to be a showstopper one day Paul. What kind of crazy person puts a Decipiens and a Prestoniana in the same general area??!? Well, besides you and I?  🤣 We are gluttons for punishment in 10yrs time. 

 

-dale 

[Palmiz]

Here's my recently grounded from 1g, hope it looks as good as the ones above one day.  Came from floribunda but picked it up from@shepcs

[realarch]



Good to see this palm being widely cultivated in subtropical and tropical locales, it will be worth the wait. Have patience.

The one in the garden has hit its stride in the last few years, from ungainly looking while young to quite attractive now. The blazing orange crown shaft revealed after losing the leaf sheath lasts only a few days and then softens to a beautiful ‘Dreamsicle’ color eventually turning to the pale blue/green. Stocky palm with short petioles and LONG plumose fronds. Lots of room better. 

 

On another note, I don’t remember my palm ever having the grass green color that some of the previous posts exhibit. Mine was always a grey/ green color, but I’ll have to look at earlier photos I’ve taken to verify.

 

Len, looking pretty fantastic along with that inflorescence.

Dale, looks like you have a bit of time before you get into trouble.

 

Tim

Sent from my iPad

[tinman10101]

Fantastic Tim! Thanks for sharing. 

Regarding the leaflets color, mine which is in the greenhouse with misters every hour on the hour probably has any glaucousness washed away. It's a pretty nasty hot muggy environment 😁

[LJG]

On 6/7/2025 at 8:58 PM, mnorell said:

So Len, per Jeff's comment to me, I assume then the 'blue decipiens'/'old betafaka' he sells would most likely be Jerry Andersen's version and not the actual species of C. oropedionis, since Jeff also sells C. oropedionis...? I also have a small 'hankona' and since both are small plants, I can't say much about their differences except that I can already see that the 'blue decipiens' is definitely more glaucous than the 'hankona,' which is indeed greenish in aspect. Both of mine are still just 4-inchers. The 'blue decipiens' definitely seems to be pretty tough at a small age since it has not yet balked at anything out here in furnace-land (aka Palm Springs area). I assume it will develop similarly to the one you picture here from your garden. But not very encouraging for my seedling to look like anything when you say yours has been growing from a 7gal back in 2008! Yikes...and this is the reason I'm growing Roystonea oleracea (seedling to 15' in about three years) and enjoying a volunteer 'filibusta' that popped up as a blade of grass in 2020 and now is pushing 20' with a quite girthy trunk. LOL, I'm glad I love lots of other types of plants or I'd be twiddling my thumbs into eternity while waiting for the palms to 'show themselves.' 

Oh, let me correct that. “Honkona” with an “o” is what it should have been. Jeff’s Hankona that I have grows super fast and appears to be a hybrid. Totally different plants. 

The palm “Betafaka” is really 3 different ones (I know of - could be more). The original became legend on here in like 2007 when Alfred showed some plants. I was lucky to get two plants from Mardy Darien. Those grew into Oropedionis. Like many popular Malagasy palms online, once sold out, amazingly enough, more seed was found  And of course it was different. Second round became this Betafaka we are talking about now. A third came around and was a really cool palm. I killed all mine. It was a super slow grower and preferred death to living. It was so difficult, I’m not sure how many survived to live in gardens. 
 

Palm Springs? Is that where the Glaucescens will go if you get some to germinate?

[mnorell]

8 hours ago, LJG said:

Oh, let me correct that. “Honkona” with an “o” is what it should have been. Jeff’s Hankona that I have grows super fast and appears to be a hybrid. Totally different plants. 

The palm “Betafaka” is really 3 different ones (I know of - could be more). The original became legend on here in like 2007 when Alfred showed some plants. I was lucky to get two plants from Mardy Darien. Those grew into Oropedionis. Like many popular Malagasy palms online, once sold out, amazingly enough, more seed was found  And of course it was different. Second round became this Betafaka we are talking about now. A third came around and was a really cool palm. I killed all mine. It was a super slow grower and preferred death to living. It was so difficult, I’m not sure how many survived to live in gardens. 
 

Palm Springs? Is that where the Glaucescens will go if you get some to germinate?

Thanks for the clarification, Len, I didn't realize there was a "Honkona" as well! And I'm just seeing that C. hankona is now a recognized species as of 2023 (described by Jeff, John D., and Bill Baker). I thought it was just another moniker in the trade, and I guess I missed the formal status in that edition of Palms.

I'm not sure what you mean by "glaucescens," maybe you mean the glaucous "blue decipiens"? I'm not germinating any seed of that, I just have a 4in. seedling purchased from Jeff, same as with the Chrysalidocarpus hankona. But yes, Palm Springs (Rancho Mirage, right next-door to it, actually), is where I'm growing everything.

[LJG]

13 hours ago, mnorell said:

Thanks for the clarification, Len, I didn't realize there was a "Honkona" as well! And I'm just seeing that C. hankona is now a recognized species as of 2023 (described by Jeff, John D., and Bill Baker). I thought it was just another moniker in the trade, and I guess I missed the formal status in that edition of Palms.

I'm not sure what you mean by "glaucescens," maybe you mean the glaucous "blue decipiens"? I'm not germinating any seed of that, I just have a 4in. seedling purchased from Jeff, same as with the Chrysalidocarpus hankona. But yes, Palm Springs (Rancho Mirage, right next-door to it, actually), is where I'm growing everything.

I thought you got seed of Syagrus glaucescens. Sorry for the confusion. 

[mnorell]

1 hour ago, LJG said:

I thought you got seed of Syagrus glaucescens. Sorry for the confusion. 

I wish I did have some…I used to grow that species when I was living in Mississippi (it died below 25f or so) but have never seen it offered in any form for years, seed or plant.  I really liked that odd little Syagrus and think it would thrive out here in the desert. Please DM me if you know any sources…

[Hilo Jason]

Here are a couple pictures of my Chrysalidocarpus Blue Decipiens. Purchased from Jerry Andersen in a 3 or 5 gallon pot about 4.5 years ago.  Planted out 3 years ago.