Hi all, I live in a fairly temperate Mediterranean type environment, so I can’t grow a lot of this genus. Still, many years ago, I collected some seed in Hawaii from near a Hilo Hattie store. And for a few years after that, I went along thinking that I was growing Adonidia, (red, similar size seed), which it was not. So, I’ve always guessed that this one is P. Elegans. But since there’s not too many to look at in San Diego, I have no way of being 100% sure. It is solitary if that helps. Although this is beginning to grow pretty well and picking up speed, believe it or not the seed was collected about 17 years ago. Thanks in advance for your help!

If that was along Maka'ala Street with a Walmart plaza across the street, there are many Rhopaloblaste augustas planted along the side of the street where Hilo Hatties used to be, but I can't recall whether they extended that far down to Hilo Hatties.

 

3 hours ago, mike in kurtistown said:

If that was along Maka'ala Street with a Walmart plaza across the street, there are many Rhopaloblaste augustas planted along the side of the street where Hilo Hatties used to be, but I can't recall whether they extended that far down to Hilo Hatties.

 

I believe you're right Mike.  I looked up the profile on Palmpedia to check out photos of the fruits and they look more closely to the size and shape of Adonidia fruits than Ptychosperma elegans does.  Also photos from Dr. George Peavy mention Hilo Hatties.  Nice palm Bret!

https://palmpedia.net/wiki/Rhopaloblaste_augusta

Mike & Jon, thanks for the input! Although it was certainly not the type of response I was expecting. Although I have heard of the genus you guys are describing, I never related it in anyway to something that could be grown here, so at the very least it gave me an education into genus is. Boy, would I like you guys to be right. Growing a palm from Nicobar Islands in San Diego would be as cool as it gets. But I’m trying to be a cool headed realist, haha. Would love more opinions, please!

Hey Bret, I think you nailed the P. elegans ID. I found an old map from the local palm society who supplied most, if not all, palms for the mall plantings. There were only three Ptychosperma landscape species listed, P. elegans, macarthurii, and salomenense. P. macarthurii and salomenense have prominent terminal leaflets, elegans does not, hence I believe you have the right identification. 

Tim

Yep that’s an elegans, we got plenty of them down under! 

I was thinking about posting this exact thread although I am too lazy to post anymore. 

I could be wrong but Elegans is always NON clumping ??

Besides several Elegans I have three other plants, two of which have no I.D. but are clumpers. I'm assuming they are Macarthurii because I seem to recall that they were the cold hardiest.  I do believe I have a  waitianum that was planted a long, long, time ago as a seedling. Rabbits keep eating any sucker from mother stem which doesn't seem to die.

The other two are getting some size. One was seed collected by Kevin Weaver in the Caribbean and the other I got some time back from a friend who didn't know it's lineage.

If you want I can post some pictures and the more tropical experts can I.D. ??