I noticed today my sp bef has a fused leaf something I have never seen before on a palm. I did see on palmpedia a picture with a bef that split in two so it may be a genetic trait with this species. Either way it’s an unusual thing more commonly seen with fascination traits in plants perhaps it’s a form of fascination in palms who knows but for now I will see what the next new leaf does as to where the new spear comes from so it may split in two yet.

It will be interesting when the new spear emerges to see if it is splitting. Is this a clumping variety? Maybe just an anomaly with that one frond….hmmm. Maybe something that occurred  during winter and it is growing out now that it is warming up where you are. Harry

36 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

It will be interesting when the new spear emerges to see if it is splitting. Is this a clumping variety? Maybe just an anomaly with that one frond….hmmm. Maybe something that occurred  during winter and it is growing out now that it is warming up where you are. Harry

Very interesting indeed. It does clump but there’s nowhere the new spear can emerge from with the two leaves fused together. So be interesting alright pretty sure it may split in two. The palm was sent to me bare  rooted but I don’t think that may have affected it. Just have to wait and see what happens in time when it does warm up for some summer growth. 
Richard 

It’s pretty normal in Chrysalidocarpus Richard. I’d be willing to bet 2 spears are about to emerge and that will be the first trunk split. I’ve had C decipiens do the exact same thing. 

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

It’s pretty normal in Chrysalidocarpus Richard. I’d be willing to bet 2 spears are about to emerge and that will be the first trunk split. I’ve had C decipiens do the exact same thing. 

Thought it would split. I have never seen it before the two leaves fused like that. Splitting yes on my ramsayi. I guess if you grow enough palms sooner or later you will see it happen.

Ill have to see which of the genus i have thats doing it. Baby red stems does, but i have another and i can't remember if its Bef or lafa or lafazamanga or whatever lol.  Not a doinker but a normal thing on them to do it looks like. Inthink the "doinker" is less a normal thing and more an oddity that works itself out. But none of them split on the leaf petiole thats new to me.

6 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

It’s pretty normal in Chrysalidocarpus Richard. I’d be willing to bet 2 spears are about to emerge and that will be the first trunk split. I’ve had C decipiens do the exact same thing. 

Agree with Tim.  I have seen it on both one of my Chrysalidocarpus decipiens as well as the Chrysalidocarpus bef below.  Sometimes, the leaflets emerge from the same rachis as a set of 3 or 4 coming off in different directions before the rachis splits and each goes back to having two sets of leaflets for the terminus of the pair of rachis.

After the split leaf sharing part of the rachis, the next leaves are fully split and the trunk splits above that point.

58 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Agree with Tim.  I have seen it on both one of my Chrysalidocarpus decipiens as well as the Chrysalidocarpus bef below.  Sometimes, the leaflets emerge from the same rachis as a set of 3 or 4 coming off in different directions before the rachis splits and each goes back to having two sets of leaflets for the terminus of the pair of rachis.

After the split leaf sharing part of the rachis, the next leaves are fully split and the trunk splits above that point.

Thanks for the pictures definitely an interesting phenomenon to have. So this is how palms split in two I guess. I will keep making observations on it and see what happens how it performs. Still a interesting thing to see not rare or uncommon for chrysalidocarpus to have this trait.

5 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Ill have to see which of the genus i have thats doing it. Baby red stems does, but i have another and i can't remember if its Bef or lafa or lafazamanga or whatever lol.  Not a doinker but a normal thing on them to do it looks like. Inthink the "doinker" is less a normal thing and more an oddity that works itself out. But none of them split on the leaf petiole thats new to me.

I have grown a lot of palms over the years and it’s new for me to actually see it happening. My ramsayi split in two but I never noticed it until it had two crowns. It will be fun to watch it happen.

That's how C. ambositrae splits too.

Definitely going to split there. C. bef is most often a multi trunk palm.. BUT the amount of trunks is determined before the main one trunks, they all start below ground. They won't split off a trunk later.

They are generally very slow as all the trunks feed off the one set of roots. The occasional one that stays a single trunk actually grows fast. Mine is a single has 8-10' of trunk now and  fruited a couple times.

4 hours ago, BS Man about Palms said:

Definitely going to split there. C. bef is most often a multi trunk palm.. BUT the amount of trunks is determined before the main one trunks, they all start below ground. They won't split off a trunk later.

They are generally very slow as all the trunks feed off the one set of roots. The occasional one that stays a single trunk actually grows fast. Mine is a single has 8-10' of trunk now and  fruited a couple times.

Thanks for the information you learn something new everyday. Interesting they feed off the one root system you certainly know your bef well thanks.

4 hours ago, richnorm said:

That's how C. ambositrae splits too.

Another good palm the real ambositrae still trying to find one for the garden. Strange how a palm has this trait.

On 10/25/2024 at 12:00 PM, BS Man about Palms said:

Definitely going to split there. C. bef is most often a multi trunk palm.. BUT the amount of trunks is determined before the main one trunks, they all start below ground. They won't split off a trunk later.

They are generally very slow as all the trunks feed off the one set of roots. The occasional one that stays a single trunk actually grows fast. Mine is a single has 8-10' of trunk now and  fruited a couple times.

The same Chrysalidocarpus before I posted above as it is currently.   It began as a single trunk.  As you canteen it followed your rule a couple of times and defied it once.  It's a good practice to avoid using "never" if you can avoid it. 

4 hours ago, Tracy said:

The same Chrysalidocarpus before I posted above as it is currently.   It began as a single trunk.  As you canteen it followed your rule a couple of times and defied it once.  It's a good practice to avoid using "never" if you can avoid it. 

How old was it when it decided to split like that? 

All of the Befs i've grown over the years ended up having three ranks of leaflets just before they split...seems to be a reliable trait of the ones around here.

Here's an old one I saw yesterday...

45 minutes ago, Daryl said:

All of the Befs i've grown over the years ended up having three ranks of leaflets just before they split...seems to be a reliable trait of the ones around here.

Here's an old one I saw yesterday...

So iam not the only one this has happened to. From what I gather this palm is one that does it regardless of conditions. Just a genetic trait inherited in the genes interesting as it is. That’s areal beauty you have growing there and about to flower. If it gets any seeds i would be interested in some thanks.

This was in the garden of Phillip Arrowsmith...our local Palm Society went there on Sunday 🙂

On 10/26/2024 at 4:39 PM, Tracy said:

The same Chrysalidocarpus before I posted above as it is currently.   It began as a single trunk.  As you canteen it followed your rule a couple of times and defied it once.  It's a good practice to avoid using "never" if you can avoid it. 

You scared it into doing that ... hahaha 

On 10/29/2024 at 7:43 AM, Daryl said:

This was in the garden of Phillip Arrowsmith...our local Palm Society went there on Sunday 🙂

I was trying my hardest to get there but it wasn't to be.

3 hours ago, Cannonball said:

I was trying my hardest to get there but it wasn't to be.

One big Sunday drive from my place.