Pronunciation: tie-coe-SPUR-muh care-ee-oh-TOY-deez
Common Name: none
Ptychosperma caryotoides is a relatively commonly grown palm in California by enthusiasts despite it being a very skinny palm that tends to only hold 2-3 leaves at a time. It is a solitary fishtail palm from New Guinea that has shown fairly good cold hardiness in California, though still fairly marginal and rarely grows into its full potential.
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: solitary with a crown of 2-4 fishtail leaves
- Height: 12'
- Trunk: single; 1" thick; grey; subtly ringed
- Crownshaft: 6" tall; grey-green; barely wider than stem below
- Spread: 2'-3'
- Leaf Description: pinnate; leaflets premorse to fishtail (older palms more premorse than fishtail)
- Petiole/Leaf bases: 8" long; very thin; unarmed; un-split leaf bases; arching
- Reproduction: monoecious
- Inflorescence: 1'2' long; pendant; several branches
- Fruit: nearly spherical; 3/4" thick; dull green turning orange when ripe
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 32F
- Drought Tolerance: low
- Dry Heat Tolerance: low
- Cool Tolerance: low
- Wind Tolerance: low
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Growth Rate: very slow to slow
- Soil Preference: moist and well draining
- Light Requirement: shade to filtered sun
- Human Hazards: none
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: rarely looks great
- Transplants?: unknown
- Indoor?: unknown
- Availability: rare
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San Diego county- photo by Mark Bradford
pair of palms; photo by Mark Bradford
Sullivan collection, Hawaii
