Why do my Blue Latan seedlings look like Red lantan seedlings?

[GTClover]

Hi I haven't posted in a while but I still love palms.  I mistook a pair of beautiful Latania loddigesii on Green Turtle Cay where we have a home. One was loaded with ripe fruit and I brought a number home (VT) to germinate & now have 3 lovely seedlings. I am very courius why they look somuch  like a Red Latan I already had.  Is this normal?

[Looking Glass]

These two are a PIA to distinguish at early age for me, and for many others.   
if you are sure about the seed, you can be pretty sure about the type…..

Red (lantaroies), blue (loddigesii), yellow (verschaffeltii)

Other than that, to me, they are very similar at young ages…. 
The major differences I see at young ages is in the petiole.  Very red in the red, red outline in the blue.  Leaf color is not a reliable differentiator at young age.  

Blue…

Red…

At least that’s my take on it (based on mine) these days. 
 

Looking at your pics above, pic #3 has the solid red petiole and would be the Red Latan / lantaroides to me, based on that.  

[GTClover]

Yes! The 3rd one is the Red I already had. I wish I had a photo of the Blue that I collected the seed from because it is young but quite stunning.  However  your seed photo confirms that I don't have some weird hybrid seedling as I have photos of the seeds.  They were posted a year or so ago as strange looking Bismarchia seeds which I was sure they were.  From the tree & fruit I was sure that's what I had as I had collected Bismarchia seeds & I currently have two that I grew from seed that I collected from Great Abaco in the Bahamas.  When I posted my photos here I was set straight., However, after growing a few of these seeds they definitely didn't look like the tree where I gathered them from, but now mystery solved! Here are my seeds.  Thanks Looking Glass!

[Looking Glass]

If you have the weather for it, Blue Latans / Latania loddigesii are great palms, and their size, speed and hurricane tolerance makes them better choices than Bismarks for most residential purposes, when you don’t have a massive amount of space. 

I’ve got two reds and a blue, so I’m watching them grow and will document the differences from time to time.   It’s subtle so far.  

 

[GTClover]

I'd love to know when the blues start to turn!  I have 2 seedlings here in VT.  They stay inside until some time in June.  And I have 2 from the same batch of seeds at our house in the northern Bahamas which is about the same climate as Florida.  it will be interesting to see how they differ over time.  I'll keep you posted!

[Looking Glass]

On 2/3/2025 at 1:10 PM, GTClover said:

I'd love to know when the blues start to turn! 

As would I.  

[ponoboys@gmail.com]

GTClover, I think you have blue latan, these are my seeds and plants