Syagrus amara

[Josue Diaz]

I planted this syagrus amara sometime around 2018. I can't recall if I bought the seedling from Floribunda or planted seed from Montgomery Botanic Center, but either of those is likely. Either way I'm happy to see it growing so well and crossing my fingers it's the real thing and not romanzoffiana. I took these photos from on top of my roof.

 

 

And here's an Abreojos queen on the other side of the house. A queen called by another name, but it still looks pretty sweet. 

[flplantguy]

Both of those species look so much better there than here! I miss it out there and love seeing the gardens people can create there.  I have three S. amara seedlings nowhere near the size of yours, I hope it is one like you expect!

[kylecawazafla]

How do they handle the cold? I'm always surprised how underutilized other Syagrus are in California. The only S. amara I know of in CA is at the SD Zoo and I can't think of any S. sancona off the top of my head... and both are so stunning to me! 

[Josue Diaz]

4 hours ago, flplantguy said:

Both of those species look so much better there than here! I miss it out there and love seeing the gardens people can create there.  I have three S. amara seedlings nowhere near the size of yours, I hope it is one like you expect!

Huh I wonder why that might be? Dry air perhaps?

15 minutes ago, kylecawazafla said:

How do they handle the cold? I'm always surprised how underutilized other Syagrus are in California. The only S. amara I know of in CA is at the SD Zoo and I can't think of any S. sancona off the top of my head... and both are so stunning to me! 

Well the jury is still out. Others have said it's just romanzoffiana, and I've had my suspicions. It's more vertical than romanzoffiana at that stage, but if it is amara, it doesn't seem to me affected by cold much. 

 

I actually just added a sancona!

[kylecawazafla]

Here is a possible S. sancona I saw at the SD zoo in 2012.

 

Here is a S. amara at Balboa Park at the Palm Canyon

 

And here is an S. amara at the zoo

 

[kylecawazafla]

Although I'm looking closely at your Syagrus and sadly I do not think it is an S. amara either  

[quaman58]

It’s a bit hard to tell for sure from the picture, but the leaflet seem a little bit more lax than the one I’ve been grown for many years.  Could just be the difference between the plants. My experience with amara, having grown one from a modest size strap leaf seedling nearly 20 years ago, is that it has been fairly slow for me. There were a couple times where I actually thought I was going to lose it, and until recently it seemed to be missing micro nutrients, although I think I’ve finally got that dialed in. After all these years, it may be 12 feet tall overall. Looking better all the time, but I never thought it really loved my relatively cool Mediterranean environment. Especially after seeing the speed that they grow in places like Hawaii. I also tried sancona many years ago and had no luck, giving up after a couple attempts. 

[quaman58]

2 minutes ago, kylecawazafla said:

Although I'm looking closely at your Syagrus and sadly I do not think it is an S. amara either  

Yeah, pretty stiff leaflets on these guys..

[quaman58]

6 minutes ago, kylecawazafla said:

Although I'm looking closely at your Syagrus and sadly I do not think it is an S. amara either  

Yeah, pretty stiff leaflets on these guys..I took a not great picture of mine this past summer..

[kylecawazafla]

Well yours is definitely S. amara! That's too bad they are so temperamental because they are such beautiful Syagrus. What happens to the S. sancona you try? @quaman58

[tim_brissy_13]

2 hours ago, kylecawazafla said:

Although I'm looking closely at your Syagrus and sadly I do not think it is an S. amara either  

Agree Kyle. Too plumose to be amara. Growth habit at that size doesn’t seem quite right either

[realarch]

I agree with ‘the other Tim’.  S. amara has stiffer leaflets and a more upright habit. 

Tim

[quaman58]

4 hours ago, kylecawazafla said:

Well yours is definitely S. amara! That's too bad they are so temperamental because they are such beautiful Syagrus. What happens to the S. sancona you try? @quaman58

I tried a couple one gallon plants on different occasions from Floribunda and just couldn’t get them to survive. Some Syagrus just seem to be a bit tender for my area. Also tried flexuosa and macrocarpa (a beauty) without any success. 

[gyuseppe]

I had syagrus amara and sancona, both died in a colder winter

[flplantguy]

16 hours ago, Josue Diaz said:

Huh I wonder why that might be? Dry air perhaps?

It's the soil mostly, but Phoenix palms also get lethal bronzing.  They are just super needy to look good and most don't put in the effort.

[realarch]

Haven’t posted a photo of S. amara in awhile, so I thought I’d post one. Part palm part rocket, the crown is way up there nowadays. 

Sometimes slower growth is a good thing, Bret you’ll be able to enjoy the scale of your palm for many years.

Tim

[realarch]

Here is a photo of Syagrus pseudococos. Looks similar to S. amara, but is a bit more plumose and a more open habit. Another fast grower. 

Both this palm and S. amara drop really cool spathe’s shaped like little decorative canoe’s. I’ve seen them used as sconces and containers for fruits and flowers. 

Tim

 

[mike in kurtistown]

Here's my quartet, planted in September 2013. Tim Brian took this picture in February 2020:

Here's the pic I took of them in June 2017:

Like others have said, they are fast growers in Hawaii.

 

 

[Jonathan]

On 11/15/2025 at 6:55 PM, realarch said:

I agree with ‘the other Tim’.  S. amara has stiffer leaflets and a more upright habit. 

Tim

The 'Tims' have spoken.

It is what it ain't and ain't what it is.

This is their wisdom.

[Jonathan]

9 hours ago, mike in kurtistown said:

Here's my quartet, planted in September 2013. Tim Brian took this picture in February 2020:

Here's the pic I took of them in June 2017:

Like others have said, they are fast growers in Hawaii.

 

 

Mike, those are beautiful! What an underrated genus.

[quaman58]

19 hours ago, realarch said:

Haven’t posted a photo of S. amara in awhile, so I thought I’d post one. Part palm part rocket, the crown is way up there nowadays. 

Sometimes slower growth is a good thing, Bret you’ll be able to enjoy the scale of your palm for many years.

Tim

Tim and Mike, those things grow beautifully in your area. Aside from the speed of growth, the amount of leaves that they hold gives them such a wonderful look.. Way fuller looking than the one that I’m growing . I’ll stop complaining now.😊

[Fusca]

On 11/15/2025 at 3:00 AM, quaman58 said:

Also tried flexuosa and macrocarpa (a beauty) without any success. 

Bret, I assume you have seen the macrocarpa at Quail.  To my eyes (not saying much!) but I couldn't see any difference from a regular queen - even the fruits and seeds looked like queen.  I collected a couple of fruits years ago and didn't get any to germinate so maybe it is labeled correctly?  I don't remember it looking like the photos on Palmpedia.

[quaman58]

2 hours ago, Fusca said:

Bret, I assume you have seen the macrocarpa at Quail.  To my eyes (not saying much!) but I couldn't see any difference from a regular queen - even the fruits and seeds looked like queen.  I collected a couple of fruits years ago and didn't get any to germinate so maybe it is labeled correctly?  I don't remember it looking like the photos on Palmpedia.

Jon, actually I didn't even know one was up there. Like you, I saw the best examples of the ones on Palmpedia and was already envisioning them growing in my garden. A bad habit of mine..