Leucothrinax morrisii

[Brian M]

Any idea where to find these anywhere close to Northeast Florida? After researching their hardiness, I think these would work well for my yard and give a different look rather than queens and sabals.

[aztropic]

Not sure if these are produced commercially. They are VERY slow growers - about the same as Coccothrinax species.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Steve the palmreader]

Try Thrinax Radiata. It is easy to find

[Hurricanepalms]

I have grown both Thrinax Radiata and Leucothrinax Morrisii. Leucothrinax are quite a bit more cold tolerant. I would stick with them for your location.  Most of the nurseries selling these are in South Florida. You can look on Plantant and Plantfinder for a listing of nurseries that are currently selling them.

[Little Tex]

I don't know of nurseries but I saw them on Rare Palm Seeds

[Brian M]

3 hours ago, Steve the palmreader said:

Try Thrinax Radiata. It is easy to find

Looks like they would fry most winters here.

[Brian M]

38 minutes ago, Hurricanepalms said:

You can look on Plantant and Plantfinder for a listing of nurseries that are currently selling them.

Yeah, I saw that everything was down south and was hoping to find something a little further north. 

I'm heading down to Orlando and then over to Tampa next month, so maybe I can find one on my adventure.

[Johnny Palmseed]

I don’t recall seeing Thrinax Radiata in the Jacksonville area but I did see Leucothrinax Morrisii in St. Augustine doing quite well. I can send you seeds of both later in the year if you would like to try that.

[Brian M]

3 hours ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

I don’t recall seeing Thrinax Radiata in the Jacksonville area but I did see Leucothrinax Morrisii in St. Augustine doing quite well. I can send you seeds of both later in the year if you would like to try that.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully I can find one before then that already has some size on it first.

[ruskinPalms]

I would actually like to get ahold of some of these. There is one in my neighborhood and I like its look. It doesn’t seem to grow much slower than Thrinax or Cocothrinax, but yeah still pretty slow. Thrinax radiata is the fastest of the bunch though. 

[ruskinPalms]

As far as Thrinax radiata, I had them freeze/frost/frozen dew  burn from time to time at my house in Ruskin. But they haven’t burned here in Parrish since I moved here in 2015. And even with the burn they grew fine overall. I like these little Florida native fan palms a lot. They fit the bill for what I am trying to do in my yard. And slow can be a blessing 

[Looking Glass]

They are using these as street trees, highway median, parking lot trees more and more around here.  They are starting to be put in a lot to fulfill the native requirements.  Great little trees.   

Someone’s producing them in decent sizes and amounts.   

They planted a bunch of alternating thrinax-leukothrinax along Andrews in Fort Lauderdale…..   unless I screwed up the ID here….

[Beach palm]

I have been growing Morrisii in St. Augustine for at least 10 years. They do fine here. Radiata is not cold hardy enough to survive. I do believe that Mike at Carribean Palm Nursery has some for sale. He has a couple of Copernicia’s posted for sale in the for sale section so you can find him there. Reach out to him. He is an excellent grower. He is located in Loxahatchee. Fl which is in Palm Beach County. 
Rick

[aztropic]

2 hours ago, Brian M said:

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully I can find one before then that already has some size on it first.

Yes, definitely not one you would want to grow from seed. VERY slow! Here is one of my community pots with 3 years of growth already.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

[aztropic]

Here is one I grew from seed,planted in my yard, probably at least 18 years old. Granted,they grow much slower here, than in Florida,but my Thrinax radiata of the same exact age already has about 4 feet of wood trunk.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

[Steve the palmreader]

20 hours ago, Brian M said:

Looks like they would fry most winters here.

They are about the same cold tolerant as Phoenix robellini

[Brian M]

4 hours ago, Steve the palmreader said:

They are about the same cold tolerant as Phoenix robellini

Good to know although I've seen plenty of robellini that are out in the open that got some decent frond burn from this past freeze. Mine did fine but it's also up against the front of the house.

[Brian M]

14 hours ago, Beach palm said:

I do believe that Mike at Carribean Palm Nursery has some for sale. He has a couple of Copernicia’s posted for sale in the for sale section so you can find him there. Reach out to him. He is an excellent grower. He is located in Loxahatchee. Fl which is in Palm Beach County. 
Rick

Thanks. I'll find him and reach out. Guess I might have to plan a trip to south Florida as well.

[Merlyn]

I bought a Leucothrinax Morrisii from an eBay seller last summer.  It's planted in the front yard, which saw about 2-3 hours of 28F with frost at the end of January.  It looks pretty good today, with only minor damage.  A Thrinax Radiata about 10 feet away was completely torched and might die.  And a Coccothrinax Argentata about 3 feet from the Radiata is badly burned but clearly will survive.  All of those are about 1-2' tall, so they are still very young and might gain hardiness with age.

In the backyard a bigger Thrinax Radiata (about 3' tall) saw 3-5 hours of 24-26F with frost, and is about 75% defoliated.  I think it'll survive, since the newest leaf is still mostly green and the spear looks good.  About 6 feet away a 1-2' tall Cryosophila Warscewiczii looks great.  The Foxtail next to the Cryosophila took the brunt of the frost, which might be why it looks so much better.  But Cryosophila Warscewiczii is supposed to be hardier than the other three, it might be a better choice for a small fan palm in your area.

[Brian M]

On 3/18/2022 at 8:02 PM, Merlyn said:

I bought a Leucothrinax Morrisii from an eBay seller last summer.  It's planted in the front yard, which saw about 2-3 hours of 28F with frost at the end of January.  It looks pretty good today, with only minor damage.  A Thrinax Radiata about 10 feet away was completely torched and might die.  And a Coccothrinax Argentata about 3 feet from the Radiata is badly burned but clearly will survive.  All of those are about 1-2' tall, so they are still very young and might gain hardiness with age.

In the backyard a bigger Thrinax Radiata (about 3' tall) saw 3-5 hours of 24-26F with frost, and is about 75% defoliated.  I think it'll survive, since the newest leaf is still mostly green and the spear looks good.  About 6 feet away a 1-2' tall Cryosophila Warscewiczii looks great.  The Foxtail next to the Cryosophila took the brunt of the frost, which might be why it looks so much better.  But Cryosophila Warscewiczii is supposed to be hardier than the other three, it might be a better choice for a small fan palm in your area.

Thanks. I've made contact with Mike. I'll speak with him about what he thinks would work best. Obviously all would be a bit of a push but we'll see.

[Brian M]

Well I was able to source one through a local nursery! I'll have it in a few weeks...now to find a good spot to plant it.

[Looking Glass]

You can find these at a lot of the more specialized nurseries down here, as little plants in giant pots.   You can spot them here and there along streets where they look great.   I did pick up a couple small ones at Caribbean Palms recently.   Mike had a few left in smaller pots.   

 

Here’s one from around the block….

Once they hit their stride, they make great smaller palms for the sunny understory areas or in open spots where you don’t want something big….  

 

Thrinax radiata grows perhaps 6 inches per year here…..  I wonder what to expect from Leukothrinax over time?  less I guess…

Edited April 12, 2023 by Looking Glass

[Brian M]

2 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

You can find these at a lot of the more specialized nurseries down here, as little plants in giant pots.   You can spot them here and there along streets where they look great.   I did pick up a couple small ones at Caribbean Palms recently.   Mike had a few left in smaller pots.   

 

 

 

I spoke with Mike last year but never ended up down that way. He has a great selection.

[realarch]

That’s a nifty little palm……I like it!

Tim

[Brian M]

We're in the ground! Have a bum shoulder at the moment so wrestled with this one a bit. Hopefully not root sensitive like a bizzie. Also, one day I'll learn to just get small palms instead of 30gal ones...maybe.

[Johnny Palmseed]

That’s a nice looking palm. You have done yourself a favor by getting a larger one. These are pretty slow growing and it’s worth paying more for some age. It will probably take several years before it even trunks. Mine is at least 15 years old and only has about 2’ of trunk.

[Brian M]

32 minutes ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

That’s a nice looking palm. You have done yourself a favor by getting a larger one. These are pretty slow growing and it’s worth paying more for some age. It will probably take several years before it even trunks. Mine is at least 15 years old and only has about 2’ of trunk.

Hope the folklore is true about it's cold hardiness and it lasts 15 years way up here lol. 

[ruskinPalms]

I just recently added a few of these to my yard at 1 gallon size. I’m really hoping their growth rate can be accelerated a bit with fertilizer and regular water. We will see. 

[ruskinPalms]

And I too hope they live up to their 9B hardiness rating. My Thrinax radiata seem to do ok here which are supposed to be the most cold tender of the little native Florida fan palms so I am hopeful. My yard needs more fan palms, everyone’s yards need more fan palms. Way too many pinnate palms planted in the residential areas here except for Bismarckia. Pygmy dates and foxtails as far as the eye can see…

[Johnny Palmseed]

I think you will be fine in Parrish. Fertilizer and water will probably help but they are definitely in the slow category.