Chamaedorea id

[Phoenikakias]

Could anyone identify following Chamaedorea specimens? Additionally to posted pictures, it is solitary and female.

[gyuseppe]

I've never seen a chamaedorea with leaves like this

[tim_brissy_13]

Can you get any more photos of the crown? It doesn’t seem like any of the usual candidates. 

[DoomsDave]

Maybe benzei?

[happypalms]

Chamaedorea carchensis? 

[tim_brissy_13]

Actually good calls above with either C benziei or carchensis. Not used to seeing them with tall clear trunk but they both could fit at first glance. 

[gyuseppe]

3 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Maybe benzei?

no benzei

[gyuseppe]

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

Chamaedorea carchensis? 

no carchensis

[Phoenikakias]

Perhaps pacaya palm?

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, gyuseppe said:

no benzei

 

1 hour ago, gyuseppe said:

no carchensis

Please elaborate with reasoning...

[gyuseppe]

Konstantinos I have 2 benzei they look like big radicals

carchensis and benzei, they say it's the same species

[JohnAndSancho]

My Benizei flowered from the base and it was trunking before the Texas heat cooked it. 

[Palmiz]

Maybe woodsoniana? Too many possibilities. 

[happypalms]

14 minutes ago, Palmiz said:

Maybe woodsoniana? Too many possibilities. 

I have consulted the palm bible Donald R Hodel and the only thing I can find in there that remotely looks the palm in question is yes wait for it woodsoniana. So in my opinion palmiz gets the golden star this week for his knowledge of what the palm may be! But it is endless as to what it may be and the pictures posted  make it difficult, if one was to see the palm in person then it may be described. I shall go out on a limb and call in @palmtreesforpleasure as our go to chamaedorea man at the moment. Unless anyone has Mr Hodels contact details we are at a mystery palm. 

[gyuseppe]

Hopefully Colin sees this post, but more photos are needed to see the leaves better

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

I have consulted the palm bible Donald R Hodel and the only thing I can find in there that remotely looks the palm in question is yes wait for it woodsoniana. So in my opinion palmiz gets the golden star this week for his knowledge of what the palm may be! But it is endless as to what it may be and the pictures posted  make it difficult, if one was to see the palm in person then it may be described. I shall go out on a limb and call in @palmtreesforpleasure as our go to chamaedorea man at the moment. Unless anyone has Mr Hodels contact details we are at a mystery palm. 

You mean the one and only Colin Wilson?

[Phoenikakias]

11 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Can you get any more photos of the crown? It doesn’t seem like any of the usual candidates. 

 

1 hour ago, happypalms said:

I have consulted the palm bible Donald R Hodel and the only thing I can find in there that remotely looks the palm in question is yes wait for it woodsoniana. So in my opinion palmiz gets the golden star this week for his knowledge of what the palm may be! But it is endless as to what it may be and the pictures posted  make it difficult, if one was to see the palm in person then it may be described. I shall go out on a limb and call in @palmtreesforpleasure as our go to chamaedorea man at the moment. Unless anyone has Mr Hodels contact details we are at a mystery palm. 

 

5 minutes ago, gyuseppe said:

Hopefully Colin sees this post, but more photos are needed to see the leaves better

Thank you sincerely for your help, I can only promise, that by first opportunity I will post some pictures of the crown only. I fear however that those pictures will be disappointing, as the plant has become rather tall and been exposed almost entirely to sun and wind. Especially the latter trashes the fronds.  It remains nevertheless quite tolerant to sun. In comparison radicalis is both wind and sun tolerant.

[happypalms]

25 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

You mean the one and only Colin Wilson?

The man himself Mr Colin Wilson @palmtreesforpleasure yes! 

[Jonathan]

Looks a lot like woodsoniana doing it tough to me - does the inflorescence turn orange eventually?

[gyuseppe]

4 hours ago, happypalms said:

The man himself Mr Colin Wilson @palmtreesforpleasure yes! 

My passion for chamaedorea was all Colin fault, who introduced me to chamaedorea and made me appreciate them.

[Phoenikakias]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

Looks a lot like woodsoniana doing it tough to me - does the inflorescence turn orange eventually?

Certainly! It is female and sets black fruit always unpollinated, although there are right beneath it 4 male Chamaedorea specimens (2 sort of glaucifolia, 1 elegans and 1 hooperiana)

[happypalms]

So has the jury come to a verdict yet, as to what variety of chamaedorea palm we are looking at! 

[tim_brissy_13]

4 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Looks a lot like woodsoniana doing it tough to me - does the inflorescence turn orange eventually?

C woodsoniana does look closest out of everything suggested but it’s just so different to mine. Mine cops too much sun and winds too but is a much darker green. Could be nutritional but even the crownshaft colour is just very different. Mine is a male so hard to compare the inflorescences but structurally they are held in a similar way. On balance I’d say you’re probably right, I can’t think of anything else that fits. 

[tim_brissy_13]

Ok I think it probably is C woodsoniana. One thing that threw me with the photos was what looked to be grouped leaflets whereas I thought C woodsoniana was regularly spaced. Looking closely at mine, each frond has a few grouped leaflets about mid way along the petiole. Not sure if this is a diagnostic feature, but it must be possible for C woodsoniana. 

[palmtreesforpleasure]

It appears to be a Chamaedorea woodsoniana.

They grow up to 12m tall and vary a lot in stem size.

My experience with them is from 3 cm stem diameter which i obtained as Chamaedorea vistae.

The giant form has up top a 10cm diameter. The normal form for me is around 5cm diameter. The pinnae to 36 each side of the rachis, Fruit 2x1 cm go from orange to black.

However we have had fruit double that size on one stand of teh giant forms and it may be a completely different form./

More work to be done on that form

regards

Colin

 

[Phoenikakias]

9 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

C woodsoniana does look closest out of everything suggested but it’s just so different to mine. Mine cops too much sun and winds too but is a much darker green. Could be nutritional but even the crownshaft colour is just very different. Mine is a male so hard to compare the inflorescences but structurally they are held in a similar way. On balance I’d say you’re probably right, I can’t think of anything else that fits. 

 

5 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Ok I think it probably is C woodsoniana. One thing that threw me with the photos was what looked to be grouped leaflets whereas I thought C woodsoniana was regularly spaced. Looking closely at mine, each frond has a few grouped leaflets about mid way along the petiole. Not sure if this is a diagnostic feature, but it must be possible for C woodsoniana. 

 

3 hours ago, palmtreesforpleasure said:

It appears to be a Chamaedorea woodsoniana.

They grow up to 12m tall and vary a lot in stem size.

My experience with them is from 3 cm stem diameter which i obtained as Chamaedorea vistae.

The giant form has up top a 10cm diameter. The normal form for me is around 5cm diameter. The pinnae to 36 each side of the rachis, Fruit 2x1 cm go from orange to black.

However we have had fruit double that size on one stand of teh giant forms and it may be a completely different form./

More work to be done on that form

regards

Colin

 

Hold in, I will post pictures of the foliage later today! @tim_brissy_13 your plant looks really very similar to mine, only the latter has more trashed fronds. Not only that many leaflets get torn off the rachis due to strong gusts, occasionally fronds break to half. As for the lighter green color of the quasi crownshaft, it may be that I had removed dry leaf bases just before those pictures. With exposure to sun light  green parts of the palms usually obtain a darker color with time.

[Phoenikakias]

On 7/4/2025 at 9:13 AM, Phoenikakias said:

 

 

Hold οn, I will post pictures of the foliage later today! @tim_brissy_13 your plant looks really very similar to mine, only the latter has more trashed fronds. Not only that many leaflets get torn off the rachis due to strong gusts, occasionally fronds break to half. As for the lighter green color of the quasi crownshaft, it may be that I had removed dry leaf bases just before those pictures. With exposure to sun light  green parts of the palms usually obtain a darker color with time.

Not that I had not warned you about the horrible sight. Stem diameter is 35,6 mm.