Verschaffeltia splendida

[realarch]

Intrigued by the stilt roots of this palm attracting airborne Tillandsia and a home for a benign orange lichen. It’s a beautiful palm with the roots, spiny trunk, and entire leaves. Here are a few photos starting with the roots.

Tim 

[realarch]

Ok, the rest of the palm…….

Shovel for scale.

Tim

[happypalms]

Many a try on this palm, complete failure, last bss as tech survived 3 years in hothouse so I decided time for the greenhouse winter killed the lot in the greenhouse. One last attempt with them now with apparently a black seed variety, see if this one is a bit tougher, fought it though  can only dress as m of such a beautiful palm. Lucky for me there are those lucky Hawaii growers who have them in all their glory! 

[Jonathan]

Equal parts magnificent and disturbing...do they ever wander down the hill and knock on the window Tim? 

[Harry’s Palms]

A very exotic palm to see growing . I saw a few in a private garden in Maui several years ago . Around here , they are in hot houses but still rare. Harry

[wimmie]

Wow, this is an absolute no-go overhere!!!😭

[Brad52]

Nice Tim! I’ve lost 4 of 6, hoping the last 2 hang on.

[Brad52]

 

[realarch]

14 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Equal parts magnificent and disturbing...do they ever wander down the hill and knock on the window Tim? 

Hmmm….interesting observation, I was always suspicious of the Socratea wandering the garden at night. They might have bumped into one another. 

Tim

[realarch]

Just now, realarch said:

Hmmm….interesting observation, I was always suspicious of the Socratea wandering the garden at night. They might have bumped into one another. 

Tim

Hey Brad, those are looking great! One note of caution, don’t stumble and grab onto the trunk, you’ll soon not forget that incident.

Tim

[Brad52]

Already hurt myself trying grab one for balance.

[Rick Kelley]

I hadn't realized Verschaffeltia were so difficult outside the tropics. These were some of the first palms I put in the ground about a dozen years ago. Very strong growers for me.  Straight stilt roots are totally different from the twisty ones of Socratea. They have been producing buckets of seed for years, so a few months ago I decided to try germinating a few. Looks like about 100% sprouted. No idea what I'll do with so many. I can unload 3-5 on visitors, but 50 (I set up several community pots)? The spines develop before the first leaves open.

[Jonathan]

17 hours ago, realarch said:

Hmmm….interesting observation, I was always suspicious of the Socratea wandering the garden at night. They might have bumped into one another. 

Tim

On a more serious note...I've often wondered what drives the evolution of stilt roots? They appear randomly in different parts of the world, I'm assuming in palm rich habitats with other non stilt root species? Is it a stability adaptation to shallow soils? More root mass for nutrient uptake? 

Either way, pretty cool!

[Jonathan]

1 minute ago, Rick Kelley said:

I hadn't realized Verschaffeltia were so difficult outside the tropics. These were some of the first palms I put in the ground about a dozen years ago. Very strong growers for me.  Straight stilt roots are totally different from the twisty ones of Socratea. They have been producing buckets of seed for years, so a few months ago I decided to try germinating a few. Looks like about 100% sprouted. No idea what I'll do with so many. I can unload 3-5 on visitors, but 50 (I set up several community pots)? The spines develop before the first leaves open.

Plant a living fence to keep the feral pigs out!

[Brad52]

2 hours ago, Rick Kelley said:

I hadn't realized Verschaffeltia were so difficult outside the tropics. These were some of the first palms I put in the ground about a dozen years ago. Very strong growers for me.  Straight stilt roots are totally different from the twisty ones of Socratea. They have been producing buckets of seed for years, so a few months ago I decided to try germinating a few. Looks like about 100% sprouted. No idea what I'll do with so many. I can unload 3-5 on visitors, but 50 (I set up several community pots)? The spines develop before the first leaves open.

I must request pictures of the parent Rick!

[Hilo Jason]

On 1/18/2026 at 9:04 AM, realarch said:

Intrigued by the stilt roots of this palm attracting airborne Tillandsia and a home for a benign orange lichen. It’s a beautiful palm with the roots, spiny trunk, and entire leaves. Here are a few photos starting with the roots.

Tim 

Scenes like this from Tim's garden had a big influence on me moving to the Big Island almost 9 years ago.  And I've never regretted that decision.  My family met Tim and visited him during our first 1 week trip to the Big Island.  We left his garden and bought a house a few blocks away! 

[Harry’s Palms]

This is what The Huntington in Pasadena has to say about stilt roots . The glass house has a lovely example of this palm. Harry

I liked how they highlighted this feature.

[Rick Kelley]

Brad,

I don't have any beautiful lichens covering the roots. I do have abundant moss on the trunks concealing the spines. The roots are brown, but seem to take on a slight violet cast at twilight. The crowns are about 20' up (6 m). It is hard to get a good exposure of the fruit with the glare of the sky interspersed with the shaded undersides of the fronds. The cool roots are a consolation prize when the wonderful entire fronds disappear into the canopy. Growing in about a foot (30 cm) of black cinder, plenty of mulch and slow release 22-7-14 three times a year. Many palms suffered with the miserable dry weather this past year, but I didn't notice any distress with these.

I wonder if a phalanx of these roots around the perimeter of the property could actually deter pigs. For some mysterious reason, I have not had a pig attack in over six months. Gotta be a record. I see them on the roads near my house frequently, but so far they have held their fire.

[Brad52]

Very nice, thanks Rick!

[realarch]

On 1/20/2026 at 2:58 PM, Hilo Jason said:

Scenes like this from Tim's garden had a big influence on me moving to the Big Island almost 9 years ago.  And I've never regretted that decision.  My family met Tim and visited him during our first 1 week trip to the Big Island.  We left his garden and bought a house a few blocks away! 

Jason, that’s always a ‘feel good’ story for me and I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was so cool that we lived within 5 minutes of each other.

Tim 

[Hilo Jason]

Here’s my Verschafeltii that just showed its first flower at a young age. Bring in a lot of sun at low elevation I think causes this sometimes here in my garden. 
 

 

[realarch]

On 1/20/2026 at 6:21 PM, Rick Kelley said:

Brad,

I don't have any beautiful lichens covering the roots. I do have abundant moss on the trunks concealing the spines. The roots are brown, but seem to take on a slight violet cast at twilight. The crowns are about 20' up (6 m). It is hard to get a good exposure of the fruit with the glare of the sky interspersed with the shaded undersides of the fronds. The cool roots are a consolation prize when the wonderful entire fronds disappear into the canopy. Growing in about a foot (30 cm) of black cinder, plenty of mulch and slow release 22-7-14 three times a year. Many palms suffered with the miserable dry weather this past year, but I didn't notice any distress with these.

I wonder if a phalanx of these roots around the perimeter of the property could actually deter pigs. For some mysterious reason, I have not had a pig attack in over six months. Gotta be a record. I see them on the roads near my house frequently, but so far they have held their fire.

Rick, I’ll bring some orange lichen over. 😊

[realarch]

4 hours ago, Hilo Jason said:

Here’s my Verschafeltii that just showed its first flower at a young age. Bring in a lot of sun at low elevation I think causes this sometimes here in my garden. 
 

 

Jason, they look particularly beautiful at this stage of growth. 

Tim