A very interesting batch of seedlings this time across the potting bench. I will say some real beauties in this lot, a few cocothrinax seeds donated by @palmtreesforpleasure Mr Wilson thank you, iam sure you know where they will go into some botanical gardens around the place. The usual chamaedoreas along with a few lytocarum insignis, a few hypohorbe red indica and thrown in for the tropical look some lanonia dasyantha. All will go into some special places and gardens in the future! 

Hey Richard. Did you get those Hyophorbe indica from Colin. I’m glad you have them going. My lot germinated well and eventually succumbed to some sort of rot.
 

The status of the red indica in the wild is really sketchy. The general belief is that these come from the Le Tampon region of Reunion Island. This region has one of the world’s best palm parks. It’s the type locality for Acanthophoenix roueselii with the only wild populations of these on private land that used to be farmed for sugar cane. It’s at mid elevation around 800m asl at a guess but as the island is so rugged and mountainous the rest of the island still towers behind you with highest peak around 3000m. The point is we could not find any wild forest here any more. Im not saying there is none, but it’s such a built up area with essentially high density living and freeways and roads and heaps of traffic. This red form may actually be extinct in the wild now and no one may have officially called it. I didn’t see any red form indicas in the Reunion palm park either which is real concerning as that should be ground zero for them. We did see the green form in the last bit of existing primary rainforest in the SE of the island. This is a protected area where most people do not go. You’re away from the traffic and hustle and bustle of suburbia there. Even still we only saw about 50 green form in this small pocket. We did see young Acanthophoenix rubra repopulating this area which is really cool as this species is technically extinct in the wild. There are other areas in higher elevation where very small pockets of Hyophorbe indica still exist. But they are critically endangered. What surprised me was the soil they grow on. In the SE where the green form is, they grow on old 800 year old lava flows. It’s very gritty and rocky with deep holes. I nearly stepped into a 4m deep hole just off the track while photographing them. So they need impeccable drainage. Since then I’ve been growing mine in very open barky mix much like you would an orchid. Previous to that I would lose some in normal potting mix. I’ve got quite a few red form here in this mix and they’re unstoppable in it. 
All the best getting them into the botanic garden. 

23 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

Hey Richard. Did you get those Hyophorbe indica from Colin. I’m glad you have them going. My lot germinated well and eventually succumbed to some sort of rot.
 

The status of the red indica in the wild is really sketchy. The general belief is that these come from the Le Tampon region of Reunion Island. This region has one of the world’s best palm parks. It’s the type locality for Acanthophoenix roueselii with the only wild populations of these on private land that used to be farmed for sugar cane. It’s at mid elevation around 800m asl at a guess but as the island is so rugged and mountainous the rest of the island still towers behind you with highest peak around 3000m. The point is we could not find any wild forest here any more. Im not saying there is none, but it’s such a built up area with essentially high density living and freeways and roads and heaps of traffic. This red form may actually be extinct in the wild now and no one may have officially called it. I didn’t see any red form indicas in the Reunion palm park either which is real concerning as that should be ground zero for them. We did see the green form in the last bit of existing primary rainforest in the SE of the island. This is a protected area where most people do not go. You’re away from the traffic and hustle and bustle of suburbia there. Even still we only saw about 50 green form in this small pocket. We did see young Acanthophoenix rubra repopulating this area which is really cool as this species is technically extinct in the wild. There are other areas in higher elevation where very small pockets of Hyophorbe indica still exist. But they are critically endangered. What surprised me was the soil they grow on. In the SE where the green form is, they grow on old 800 year old lava flows. It’s very gritty and rocky with deep holes. I nearly stepped into a 4m deep hole just off the track while photographing them. So they need impeccable drainage. Since then I’ve been growing mine in very open barky mix much like you would an orchid. Previous to that I would lose some in normal potting mix. I’ve got quite a few red form here in this mix and they’re unstoppable in it. 
All the best getting them into the botanic garden. 

No these ones come from another source about 3 years ago. I will most likely donate one to the gardens. They are rare here had someone yesterday wanting them all, iam sure seeds are getting around but most growers are reluctant to part with them. The environment you described is in such a terrible state that I fear it has already been lost in the wild, there may be a few in gardens on the island for future seed stock. Oh the state of the environment is not good in a lot of places. Thanks for tip on the potting mix sounds like a succulent mix.