Planted a Hedycepe

[tim_brissy_13]

3 hours ago, Jonathan said:

As potentially invasive Rich?

That seems a looong stretch...I think maybe NZ might be swinging a bit too hard on all that stuff at the moment, I would have thought conservation of existing ecosystems would be a much higher priority than obsessing over the next highly improbable invasive species?

Didn’t think I’d see the day where Hedyscepe would be banned anywhere for any reason. I know they grow like mad over there, but I just can’t imagine them becoming invasive considering it takes about 4 years for seed to ripen.

If they’re a problem Richard well hardly take all the seed. 

[xtazia]

On 11/8/2025 at 12:45 PM, pogobob said:

Before and now. New owner turned off irrigation 

that pisses me off seeing the new owner - poor palm looks over pruned like you see all the filifera's & cidps around socal. SAD !!!

[richnorm]

19 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Why are they banning them, along with other palms??????

King palm	Archontophoenix alexandrae
Mount Lewis palm	Archontophoenix purpurea
Formosa palm	Arenga engleri
Jelly palm	Butia capitata
Chinese fishtail palm	Caryota maxima
Costa Rican bamboo	Chamaedorea costaricana
Maya palm	Chamaedorea hooperiana
Hardy bamboo palm	Chamaedorea microspadix
Bamboo palm	Chamaedorea seifrizii
Mediterranean fan palm	Chamaerops humilis
Sugar cane palm	Dypsis baronii
Areca palm	Dypsis lutescens
Big mountain palm	Hedyscepe canterburyana
Kentia palm	Howea forsteriana
Atherton palm	Laccospadix australasicus
Cabbage tree palm	Livistona australis
Mountain coconut	Parajubaea cocoides
Senegal date palm	Phoenix reclinata
Dwarf date palm	Phoenix roebelenii
Majestic palm	Ravenea rivularis
Lady palm	Rhapis excelsa
Sabal palm	Sabal palmetto
Queen palm	Syagrus romanzoffiana
Wedding palm	Syagrus weddelliana
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus martianus
California fan palm	Washingtonia robusta
Jucara palm	Euterpe edulis
Sentry palm	Howea belmoreana
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus latisectus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus oreophilus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus princeps
Slender lady palm	Rhapis humilis
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus geminisectus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus nanus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus ravenii
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus takil
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus ukhrulensis

[richnorm]

It's political rather than biological.  Of course there will be "consultation" before the bans are enacted but the last process which saw Phoenix canariensis, Trachycarpus fortunei and Archontophoenix cunninghamiana banned was painfully lacking in evidence. 

[Jonathan]

2 hours ago, richnorm said:

It's political rather than biological.  Of course there will be "consultation" before the bans are enacted but the last process which saw Phoenix canariensis, Trachycarpus fortunei and Archontophoenix cunninghamiana banned was painfully lacking in evidence. 

They won't have the resources to trawl the entire country checking which species people have tucked away in their garden, so just ignore it.

I've recently seen the feral Archontophoenix alexandrae in Hawaii and it's definitely a problem but given how long a lot of the species on your list have been in NZ, surely any invasive tendencies would be obvious by now. 

[Darold Petty]

What about the Howea palms planted as street trees in New Plymouth ?   

https://tropicaltreasures.nz/30-palm-trees-for-your-new-zealand-garden/

 

[tim_brissy_13]

3 hours ago, richnorm said:

King palm	Archontophoenix alexandrae
Mount Lewis palm	Archontophoenix purpurea
Formosa palm	Arenga engleri
Jelly palm	Butia capitata
Chinese fishtail palm	Caryota maxima
Costa Rican bamboo	Chamaedorea costaricana
Maya palm	Chamaedorea hooperiana
Hardy bamboo palm	Chamaedorea microspadix
Bamboo palm	Chamaedorea seifrizii
Mediterranean fan palm	Chamaerops humilis
Sugar cane palm	Dypsis baronii
Areca palm	Dypsis lutescens
Big mountain palm	Hedyscepe canterburyana
Kentia palm	Howea forsteriana
Atherton palm	Laccospadix australasicus
Cabbage tree palm	Livistona australis
Mountain coconut	Parajubaea cocoides
Senegal date palm	Phoenix reclinata
Dwarf date palm	Phoenix roebelenii
Majestic palm	Ravenea rivularis
Lady palm	Rhapis excelsa
Sabal palm	Sabal palmetto
Queen palm	Syagrus romanzoffiana
Wedding palm	Syagrus weddelliana
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus martianus
California fan palm	Washingtonia robusta
Jucara palm	Euterpe edulis
Sentry palm	Howea belmoreana
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus latisectus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus oreophilus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus princeps
Slender lady palm	Rhapis humilis
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus geminisectus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus nanus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus ravenii
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus takil
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus ukhrulensis

Why on earth would something like Trachycarpus geminisectus be banned? I assume their logic goes something like T fortunei grows like a weed so therefore let’s ban all Trachycarpus. 

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, richnorm said:

King palm	Archontophoenix alexandrae
Mount Lewis palm	Archontophoenix purpurea
Formosa palm	Arenga engleri
Jelly palm	Butia capitata
Chinese fishtail palm	Caryota maxima
Costa Rican bamboo	Chamaedorea costaricana
Maya palm	Chamaedorea hooperiana
Hardy bamboo palm	Chamaedorea microspadix
Bamboo palm	Chamaedorea seifrizii
Mediterranean fan palm	Chamaerops humilis
Sugar cane palm	Dypsis baronii
Areca palm	Dypsis lutescens
Big mountain palm	Hedyscepe canterburyana
Kentia palm	Howea forsteriana
Atherton palm	Laccospadix australasicus
Cabbage tree palm	Livistona australis
Mountain coconut	Parajubaea cocoides
Senegal date palm	Phoenix reclinata
Dwarf date palm	Phoenix roebelenii
Majestic palm	Ravenea rivularis
Lady palm	Rhapis excelsa
Sabal palm	Sabal palmetto
Queen palm	Syagrus romanzoffiana
Wedding palm	Syagrus weddelliana
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus martianus
California fan palm	Washingtonia robusta
Jucara palm	Euterpe edulis
Sentry palm	Howea belmoreana
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus latisectus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus oreophilus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus princeps
Slender lady palm	Rhapis humilis
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus geminisectus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus nanus
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus ravenii
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus takil
Trachycarpus	Trachycarpus ukhrulensis

So are these species growing like weeds and invading hill sides and filling fields with millions of out of control volunteers messing up farms and the ecology???????

That is the most ridiculous load of garbage I’ve ever seen. What is the reason they want to ban these palms. Without a reason how do they justify imposing a ban. Is it just a situation of, “Well it’s not native - ban it”. That means all the botanic gardens will just have to shut down, or become grassy areas that just sell coffee and cake. 

It’s not like NZ is some sort of untouched by humans pristine ecological area. Don’t get me wrong NZ is a beautiful place that I really want to visit and see it’s natural beauty but the reality is it has already been massively modified and degraded by human activity. 

So NZ is essentially into making arbitrary rules that have no scientific basis or basis on reason. You should have freedom to grow what you want unless it of course has a strong reason not to be grown. 

[richnorm]

I feel sure the real reason for the bans is a view that native = good, non-native = bad.  But even native trees like Pohutakawa are considered weeds by some if they stray out of their natural distribution of the past few thousand years.  I'm just grateful to have a fascination for plants which has brought me lifelong pleasure and try to ignore the joyless extremists.

[richnorm]

4 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

What about the Howea palms planted as street trees in New Plymouth ?   

https://tropicaltreasures.nz/30-palm-trees-for-your-new-zealand-garden/

 

New Plymouth is outside the ban area.  The last bans were for sale and distribution but owners didn't have top get plants removed.  I'm assuming it will be the same this time. Hundreds of other garden plants are in the firing line too.

[PalmCode]

They're a pack of morons. The Auckland council needs to be thrown into the ban list instead.

[Tyrone]

1 hour ago, richnorm said:

New Plymouth is outside the ban area.  The last bans were for sale and distribution but owners didn't have top get plants removed.  I'm assuming it will be the same this time. Hundreds of other garden plants are in the firing line too.

I’m just speechless at the stupidity of these decisions. I wonder exactly what plants they consider suitable for NZ. Also are they considering planting large areas of native NZ plants like NZ Kauri to replace what has been removed over the years of human habitation. 

[Tyrone]

2 minutes ago, PalmCode said:

They're a pack of morons. The Auckland council needs to be thrown into the ban list instead.

😝