New Artificial Hybrids in Chrysalidocarpus

 (Arecaceae). Part 2. The Tri-Bana Palm:

Chrysalidocarpus x pembacaryi

DONALD R. HODEL, JUSTEN B. DOBBS, AND ROBERT H. BURTSCHER

Abstract

This article, the second in an occasional series about the hybrid palms in Chrysalidocarpus (Arecaceae) that co-author Justen B. Dobbs is developing in Florida, U. S. A., addresses the tri-bana palm, Chrysalidocarpus × pembacaryi, another handsome hybrid entering tropical and subtropical private collections and botanical gardens and is likely to become more popular in the trade. Thus, this new hybrid palm is formally named, described, and illustrated, compared to its parents, and its cultivation and landscape use discussed.

Introduction

We (Hodel at al. 2025) recently discussed co-author Dobbs’s interest in producing hybrid palms, especially in the genus Chrysalidocarpus. In that article, we named, described, discussed, and illustrated the tri-bear palm, a hybrid of C. leptocheilos and C. decaryi that Dobbs has championed and produced, and that is now gracing collections and landscapes in Florida, California, and elsewhere.

Through his Seabreeze Nurseries in Fort Myers, Florida, Dobbs has been making numerous other Chrysalidocarpus hybrids, some of which have matured and will come into production. One of these is the tri-bana palm, C. × pembacaryi.

Dobbs is the developer of the tri-bana  palm and will distribute it through two nurseries, one in California and one in Florida. Because the tri-bana palm will become more common in palm collections in California, Florida, and elsewhere, here we formally name, describe, and copiously illustrate it, compare it to its parents, and discuss its landscape use and cultivation. The description is mostly from fresh, non-dried material of the type plant grown at Dobb’s home in Fort Myers, Florida.

Taxonomy

Chrysalidocarpus × pembacaryi Hodel, J. B. Dobbs & R. H. Burtscher sp. hyb. nov. [Chrysalidocarpus pembanus H. E. Moore × Chrysalidocarpus decaryi (Jum.) Eiserhardt & W. J. Baker]. Type: CULTIVATED. U. S. A., Florida, Lee County: Fort Myers, garden of Justen Dobbs, 24 April 2026, D. R. Hodel 4085 (Holotype LASCA, Isotype BH). Figs. 1–XX.

Diagnosis: Chrysalidocarpus × pembacaryi displays a range of characters with its parents (C. decaryi and C. pembanus), some greater or smaller or otherwise unique from its parents or some shared with one parent but not the other. For example, this hybrid is unique from its parents in its hybrid vigor; the mostly straight and longer leaf rachis; the steeply ascending pinnae; the larger inflorescence; the infrafoliar infrusctescence; the longer and larger peduncle, prophyll, and rachis; the prophyll with reddish brown tomentum; the larger staminate petals; and the taller pistillode. It shares with C. decaryi the trunk diameter; the internode length, color, and indument; the quantity of pinnae; the open leaf base with reddish brown tomentum; the longer rachillae; the ruminate endosperm; and the bifid eophyll. Although decidedly more like C. decaryi, it shares with C. pembanus the inflorescence with four orders of branching and the peduncle and rachis with reddish to reddish brown pubescence or tomentum (Table 1).

Etymology: Because the pistillate or seed parent is typically listed first and the staminate or pollen  parent  second in a  hybrid name,  we have  combined the first  two syllables  of the seed parent epithet pembanus and the last two of the staminate parent epithet decaryi to form the hybrid species epithet, pembacaryi.

Common Name: tri-bana palm, the “tri” derived from the common name of the staminate parent triangle palm, Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, and “bana” from the former botanical epithet of the pistillate parent, Dypsis pembana (now C. pembanus).

Habit: Clustered or solitary with 1–2 stems, moderate to robust, monoecious, unarmed, pleonanthic, tree palm to at least 15 m tall (Fig. X).

Trunk/Stem: to at least 10 m tall, ca. 30 cm DSH, ringed internodes ca. 7 cm, smooth, green distally, tan proximally, leaf scars ca. 1.5 cm wide, tan (Fig. X).

Leaves: 14–18 per stem, pinnate, strongly tristichous, ascending, straight but slightly recurved in distal 1 m (Fig. X); base/sheath ca. 70 cm long (Fig. X), ca. 60 cm circumference, briefly tubular proximally, deeply open distally and there typically with an abrupt “shoulder” to 5 cm high, thick-leathery (drying woody), abaxially green distally and yellow-cream proximally, densely covered with reddish brown tomentum throughout, distally tomentum overlying white-waxy indument (Fig. X),   adaxially mostly yellow-cream with green on distal margins,  petiole ca. 35 cm long, ca.

Table 1. Summary character differences between Chrysalidocarpus × pembacaryi (tri-bana palm) and its two parents: C. decaryi and C. pembanus^z.

Character	C. decaryi	C. × pembacaryi	C. pembanus
Trunk
Diam. standard height      (cm)	30–40	30	6-15
Internode      length(cm)/color	3–10/gray with some white way	7/green distally, tan proximally, with some light white wax	to 24/green distally, brown proximally
Leaf
Disposition	arching	mostly straight	arching
Leaf base length (cm),      form	30–45, open	70, open	50–60, tubular
Leaf base indument	white waxy with reddish pubescence	white waxy with reddish brown indument	waxy green
Rachis length (m)	2.2–3	3.6	2.4
Quantity of pinnae per      each side of rachis	55–97	87	40–50
Pinnae disposition	moderately ascending, pinnae on opposite sides forming a 90° angle	steeply ascending, pinnae on opposite sides forming a 60° angle	moderately ascending, pinnae on opposite sides forming a 90° angle
Pinnae abaxial indument	scattered, minute, reddish scales on fainter veins	dense cover of small, white-waxy scales with minutel, brown scale on veins	dense  cover of minute waxy scales with small, glossy brown scales on veins
Inflorescence
Size (cm)	125–178 × 120	260 × 180	70-90cm x 90-120cm
Position	interfoliar	interfoliar in flower, infrafoliar in fruit	interfoliar
Orders of branching	3	4	3 or 4
Peduncle length (cm)	50–58	95	60
Peduncle indument	scattered scales	dense reddish brown tomentum	dense reddish tomentum
Prophyll length/width (cm)	25–63/6	75	>30/5

 

Table 1 (Continued).

Character	C. decaryi	C. × pembacaryi	C. pembanus
Prophyll indument	scattered scales	white waxy with dense, reddish brown tomentum	glabrous, dull waxy
Rachis length (cm)	118	175	?
Rachis indument	flaking, densely scaly	reddish brown tomentum	reddish pubescent
Rachillae length (cm)	12–26	29	11–19
Flowers
Staminate color	yellow to orange	white	cream/white
Pistillate color	green	green?	pale green to cream
Staminate petals (mm)	3.2–3.5 × 1.8–2.3	4.5 × 3	2.3–2.8 × 1.5–1.8
Pistillode (mm)	1.6 × 1	3.5 × 1.2	1.8–2.8 × 0.6
Fruit/Seed
Fruit size (mm)/shape	15–22 × 12–19 mm/ovoid to subglobose	18–24  × 12.5–14 mm/globose-ovoid	12–15 × 5–7 mm/ oblong-ovoid
Seed size (mm)/shape	17–19 × 16–18 mm/subglobose to ellipsoid	16–22 × 9–11 mm/ellipsoid-ovoid	10.5–11 × 5–5.5 mm/oblong-ellipsoid
Endosperm	ruminate	ruminate	homogeneous
Eophyll	bifid	bifid	bifid

^zCharacters for both parents taken mostly from Dransfield and Beentje (1995).

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11 cm thick and 7 cm wide at base, ca. 5 cm thick and 5.5 cm wide at apex, narrowly rounded abaxially and green with white-waxy indument, laterally with dense reddish brown tomentum, adaxially prominently channeled,  to ca. 6.5 cm deep proximally and 1.5 cm deep distally, with moderate reddish brown tomentum and a raised triangular structure ca. 15 cm long; rachis ca. 3.6 m long, straight but slightly recurved in distal 1 m, tapering to 2 mm diam. at apex, abaxially rounded, adaxially shallowly channeled proximally progressively transitioning to a flat, low, broad ridge and then a narrow, knife-like ridge distally, green, abaxially and laterally with reddish brown tomentum in proximal 60 cm but transitioning to nearly glabrous at apex, adaxially glabrous; pinnae ca. 87 per side, regularly arranged, erect to steeply ascending off rachis to form a V-shaped blade in transverse section with an interior angle of ca. 60°, spaced ca. 7 cm apart proximally, 2.5 cm apart mid-blade, and 1.5 cm apart distally, pinnae imbricate ca. mid-blade to apex, most proximal ca. 73 × 2 cm, proximal mid-blade largest, these ca. 93 × 3.5 cm, most distal  12–14 × 0.5–2 cm, all leathery, stiff, straight, tips eventually drooping, constricted at attachment point to ca. 1.5 cm wide, abaxially with a dense cover of small, white-waxy scales with minute, brown scales on veins (when dry), midrib prominent with other veins of lesser orders inconspicuous and/or obscured by indument, glossy dark green adaxially with light green, elevated, prominent midrib, 5–6 primary veins on either side of midrib, veins of lesser orders inconspicuous, light green marginal veins conspicuous, 1–2 ramenta  on abaxial midrib mostly within ca. 5 cm of rachis, these with a green, bi-lobed, anvil-like base 3-4 mm long, 2 arms 2–3 mm long with tan scurfy indument (Fig. 17), sometime 1–2 additional ramenta within ca. 20 cm of rachis, these smaller with less prominent base, scurfy, tan.

Inflorescences: 4–5 per stem, interfoliar in flower (Fig. X), infrafoliar in fruit, ca. 2.6 × 1.8 m (Fig. X), ascending, spreading with drooping rachillae, branched to 4 orders; peduncle ca. 95 cm long (Fig. 19), base 56 cm long/wide where clasping but not encircling trunk in its entirety, 13–15 cm wide and ca. 2 cm thick at base, ca. 3 cm thick prophyll attachment, tapering to ca. 6 cm wide and 3 cm thick at apex, green but densely covered with thick, reddish brown tomentum; prophyll ca. 75 cm long, ca. equaling peduncle, attached ca. 19 cm distal of peduncle base and there ca. 14 cm wide and completely encircling peduncle, lanceolate, acute-acuminate, obliquely open apically, leathery, abaxially creamy yellow with dense, reddish brown tomentum and distally with white-waxy indument, adaxially green distally with reddish brown tomentum medially and creamy yellow proximally, bicarinate with proximal margins saw-toothed, teeth ca. 1.5 cm high, triangular, bicarinate margins extending proximally ca. 10 cm beyond point of prophyll attachment; peduncular bract similar to and ca. equaling prophyll but not prominently bicarinate, attached ca. 22 cm distal of prophyll attachment, ca. 55 cm long, indument and color similar to that of prophyll; 2^nd peduncular bract attached ca. 60 distal of prophyll attachment, not completely encircling peduncle, ca. 13 cm long, ca. 6.5 cm wide at base; rachis ca. 1.75 m long, tapering to 4 mm diam. at apex, green but clothed with reddish brown tomentum throughout, this thick and dense proximally becoming scattered distally; ca. 25 branches and 15 simple rachillae, most proximal branches largest and most complexly branched, ca. 1.25 m long, sub-peduncle ca. 22 × 4 × 1.5 cm, tapering to ca. 1 × 1.4 cm at apex, sub-rachis ca. 89 cm long, tapering to 2–3 mm diam. at apex, ca. 15 branches and 9 simple rachillae, most proximal branch largest, ca. 60 cm long, sub-sub-peduncle ca. 11 cm long, ca. 2 × 0.5 cm at base, tapering to ca, 3 mm diam. at apex with ca. 10 simple rachillae; branches and rachillae subtended by rachis bracts, most proximal largest, these ca. 6 cm wide and 2 mm high except for central, median tip to 4 mm high, bracts becoming smaller distally, eventually barely discernable distally; rachillae ca. 29 cm long ca. 4 × 3 mm at base, tapering to ca. 2 mm diam. at apex, drooping, light green but minutely white-spotted.

Flowers: arranged in triads of a center, later-opening pistillate flower flanked on each of two sides by earlier-opening staminate flowers in proximal ca. 3/4 of rachilla, mostly solitary or paired staminate or less often a paired staminate and pistillate flowers distal ca. 1/4 of rachilla, triads in two spirals, each with 4–5 triads in 1 revolution, triads ca. 5 mm distant within a spiral proximally and 1.5–2 mm distant distally; triads and paired staminate flowers in dried state in shallow clefts ca. 3 mm long, 2 mm wide, and 0.5 mm deep, proximal lip prominent (when dry), 1.25 × 1.5 mm, broadly ovate, slightly ascending to ca. 45°, thicker proximally, thin and knife-like distally along margins, bracteoles ca. 0.5 × 1.25 mm, crescent-shaped, imbricate, thin, white; staminate flowers 6–7 × 6–7 mm, white (Fig. xx); calyx ca. 1.5 × 3 mm, cup-like, sepals imbricate nearly to apex and there broadly rounded to truncate, bowl-like, white with slight green tinge especially proximally; petals ca. 4.5 × 3 mm, ovate, erect and free apically, valvate, white; stamens 6, 6–6.5 mm high, exceeding petals, filaments 4.5–5 mm long, slightly exceeding petals and typically reflexed at petal tips, white, anthers ca. 2.3 × 0.8 wide, medifixed, white; pistillode ca. 3.5 × 1.2 mm, shorter than petals, ovoid-columnar, white, tip pointed, briefly trifid ; pistillate flowers (only seen in immature bud) 2 × 2 mm, greenish.

Fruit: (old, dried) 1.8–2.4  × 1.25–1.4 cm, globose-ovoid; seed: (old, dried) 1.6–2.2 × 0.9–1.1 cm, ellipsoid-ovoid; endosperm ruminate; eophyll bifid (Fig. XX).

Discussion

Chrysalidocarpus × pembacaryi  is decidedly can be more like C. decaryi, its staminate parent, or closer to C. pembanus, its pollen parent, as each seedling within a grex typically leans more towards one of the parents genetically, in its general appearance except for its but in either case has a typically clustered habit- the most mature specimens in Florida and California have no more than three trunks.  Thus, they do not produce as many clustered trunks as pure C. pembanus typically does, but more than pure C. decaryi (which is a single-trunked species).  It is highly likely that a small percentage of Tri-bana specimens could remain solitary if they were to inherit the solitary trait of the C. decaryi pollen parent, but this has not been observed yet.  The leafy canopy of C. × pembacaryi  is especially similar to that of C. decaryi. Indeed, the type specimen of C. × pembacaryi can be likened to a clustered C. decaryi. The leaf canopies of both are gray and their thick, sturdy, open leaf bases are similar in shape, color, and indument. However, the discerning eye might detect the mostly straight rather than arching leaf rachis of C. × pembacaryi, and the striking gray leaf canopy of C. × pembacaryi is grayer than that of C. decaryi, which is saying a lot because the canopy of the latter is also gray. Because the pinnae of C. × pembacaryi are so steeply ascending off the rachis, the abaxial pinna surface, which has a thick coating of white-waxy scales, is prominently displayed, enhancing its gray leaf color.

Minute, brown scales line the veins on the abaxial pinna surface. These are inconspicuous on fresh material, even under magnification, because they are obscured by the white-waxy scales but are conspicuous and readily viewed in dry material under magnification, perhaps because the heat of the drying process melted or altered the waxy scales, revealing the brown scales lining the veins.

Co-author Dobbs, who has been making many hybrids in Chrysalidocarpus for about 20 years, feels that most but not all hybrids in the genus are self-sterile. The Tri-bana palm is self-sterile; it will not produce viable seeds when self-pollinated, a condition found in many hybrid plants. The reasons for hybrid self-sterility are several and are typically related to the chromosomes of each parent. One of the primary reasons is that the two parents of a hybrid have different chromosome numbers, which means that during meiosis they do not pair correctly, resulting in the failure to produce gametes with the correct number of chromosomes to produce viable offspring (Blackwell 2025, Velos 2022).

However, Dransfield et al. (2008) noted that nearly all species of Chrysalidocarpus (as Dypsis) have a chromosome number of 2n = 32, a common number in subfamily Arecoideae and the dominant number in the tribe Arecaceae in which Chrysalidocarpus is placed. Thus, differences in chromosome numbers do not seem to be the reason for Tri-bear’s self-sterility.

Another possible reason for hybrid sterility is the occurrence of micro- and macro-gene inversions, which reorder the genes, so they do not match up well. Other genetic discrepancies, aberrations, and mutations can also be responsible for self-sterility, and more work is needed to resolve this phenomenon.

Thus, to produce fruits with viable seeds of the Tri-bana palm, pollen from another species (not a hybrid) must be used, and pollen from the hybrid’s staminate parent, Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, seems to be the most compatible and effective. However, the resulting offspring will not be an authentic or true Tri-bana palm, but a back-crossed hybrid (which Dobbs has also produced in extremely low numbers and given the common name ‘Super Tri-bana’ Palm). If authentic Tri-bana palm is desired, the original F1 cross must be made (pollen of C. decaryi placed on pistillate flowers of C. pembanus).

Through trial and error, Dobbs has also determined that Tri-bana hybrids are only successfully produced if the pollen source is Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, not C. pembanus. He suspects that, for an unknown reason, C. decaryi has pollen that makes it a successful staminate or pollen parent in a hybrid, a suspicion that is borne out by other hybrids of C. decaryi that Dobbs has made. Similarly, in oil palms (Elaeis guineensis), Criollo-Escobar and Dominguez (2018) found that the genotype of the pollen provider determines pollen quality, especially viability and germinability, which are critical for proper pollination and fruit and seed development. More work is needed to resolve this phenomenon, too.

On the occasion that flowers of Chrysalidocarpus × pembacaryi self-pollinate, it develops fruit that inexorably aborts when about 0.5 cm in diameter, being either parthenocarpic or containing brown endosperm void of any embryo.

The Tri-bana palm clearly exhibits hybrid vigor, surpassing both parents in its growth rate in Florida. Another possible byproduct of hybridization in Tri-bana palms is yellow and brown splotching that might appear on lower or older leaves in the canopy. This splotching is more evident with a backlit leaf. One’s first inclination might be to diagnosis this splotching as a nutrient disorder, such as potassium deficiency (Broschat et al. 2014, Hodel 2012), and, indeed, these symptoms can fit this potential disorder. Another explanation could be lesion mimic mutants, which are a result of the hybridization process and can become sufficiently severe to kill some palms, such as the mule palm (×Butiagrus nabonnandii) (Dhillon et al. 2024). Lesion mimic mutants do not respond to fertilizer or pesticide and fungicide applications because they are the result of genetic anomalies in the hybridization process. While we suspect that lesion mimic mutant might occur on the Tri-bear palm, Chrysalidocarpus × leptocaryi (see Hodel at al. 2025 for illustrations), fortunately, we have not yet observed this yellow and brown splotching on older leaves of the Tri-bana palm yet.

Because hybrids can be inadvertently produced in palm collections and nurseries with species-rich holdings of Chrysalidocarpus (and likely other genera) (Hodel 2023, 2025; Hodel et al. 2025), foreign pollen-exclusion techniques must be employed to ensure “pure” offspring are produced under such conditions. Otherwise, instead of being a typically, long-touted method to perpetuate and conserve species and genetic material, cultivation could result in just the opposite, inadvertent, largely undocumented, and mostly unwanted hybridization, diluting and mixing genetic material (Hodel 2023, Hodel et al. 2025).

In Chrysalidocarpus, inadvertent hybrids seem to occur in South Florida in the most commonly cultivated species, such as C. lutescens, which is grown by the millions for the nursery and landscape trades in Florida and for export. J & K Plant Distributors in Miami, Florida reported in 2024 (pers. comm.) that C. lutescens and C. decaryi will occasionally and inadvertently hybridize in their nursery; the hybridized nature of some open-pollinated, seed-grown plants will become evident as they grow and develop. These occasional hybrids are seen as a novelty by some nursery growers and sold to local collectors while others simply sell them unknowingly as “pure” species.

Cultivation

For comprehensive reviews of palm horticulture and landscape management, see Broschat et al. (2014) and Hodel (2012).

Although experiences cultivating Tri-bana palms are few, they would seem well adapted to a variety of subtropical and tropical climates and regions around the world. They would seem adapted to tropical and warm subtropical, moist to wet conditions, like those of southern Florida, northern Australia, Thailand, and elsewhere. They would likely be tolerant and grow unusually well in warm or slightly cooler, drier, and more arid subtropical conditions, like the Mediterranean-climate regions of southern California, southern Europe, southern Africa, parts of Australia, and elsewhere. One of Tri-bana’s parents, Chrysalidocarpus decaryi, likely imparts heat, cool, drought, wind, and arid tolerance to Tri-bana palms. Despite this drought tolerance, Tri-bana palms perform best with occasional irrigation during dry, rainless periods (see later).

Tri-bana palms will tolerate hot temperatures, likely as warm as 45 C, especially if given some afternoon shade and occasional irrigation. They will also tolerate short, overnight periods of near-freezing and slightly sub-freezing temperatures to   ̄2 C with little or no damage.

Propagation of Tri-bana palms is by seed, which can be produced on Chrysalidocarpus pembanus whose pistillate flowers are pollinated with pollen from C. decaryi. Measures should be taken to emasculate the inflorescence. Remove staminate flowers of C. pembanus pre-anthesis to exclude unwanted pollen, which is critical to maximize hybrid fruit production and prevent self-pollination. To remove staminate flowers mechanically, simply rub them off with your fingers beginning at the distal end of each rachilla and moving toward the proximal end. Removal should be done well before staminate anthesis to eliminate the chance of stray pollen escaping the flower during removal and lodging on the pistillate flower. It is helpful to start by cutting off or removing the distal portion of each rachilla, which contains only solitary or paired staminate flowers anyway and no pistillate flowers. Then remove the staminate flowers in triads with a pistillate flower in the more proximal portion of the rachilla. Be careful not to damage pistillate flowers when removing staminate flowers. After removal of staminate flowers, spray the entire inflorescence with a mixture of water, a denaturing agent, and a surfactant to wash off any escaped pollen. Also, the now emasculated inflorescence must be protected to exclude unwanted, foreign pollen spread by wind and/or insects from adjacent or nearby individuals of Chrysalidocarpus, which can be done by emasculating or removing inflorescences on other palms or enclosing securely the just emasculated inflorescence in a protective bag of cheesecloth, poly screen mesh (Fig. 29), or specialized pollination bags used in the date and oil palm industries. The poly mesh bags also provide protection of the developing fruits against marauding herbivores. When pistillate flowers of C. pembanus have attained anthesis, which typically can be determined by petal and pistil color and sometimes the presence of a minute, clear dew-drop at the tip of the pistil, pollen collected from C. decaryi can be applied. Make repeated applications of pollen to the pistillate flowers of C. pembanus over several days to ensure successful pollination.

When fruits are mature and soft ripe, they can be collected from the palm, cleaned of their pulp, and planted in a clean, moist, porous, well aerated medium composed of about 25% organic matter like peatmoss or coir and 75% inorganic matter like perlite, pumice, or sand. Plant the seeds, barely covering them with about 5 to 10 mm of medium. Place the clean, planted containers off the ground and keep them clean. Keep the medium moist but not soggy wet and maintain temperatures of from 24 to 32 C.

When the first eophyll has appeared, pot up seedlings into appropriately sized, clean containers using the same or similar mix used for germination, only now incorporate dolomite lime and a palm-special fertilizer into the mix following recommended rates. Tri-bana hybrid seedlings are extremely difficult to discern from pure C. pembanus seedlings, even for an experienced collector, mainly because both parents produce bifid eophylls when they reproduce naturally, as does the hybrid.  Key hybrid traits can be seen once plants are about 20-30cm tall, including stiff or upright leaves, a thick sturdy stem, and deep green leathery leaves.  They sometimes have conspicuous tristichous leaf arrangements at this size but it depends on how much C. decaryi parentage was passed on.  Keep plants off the ground and in light shade, especially in the afternoon. As root fill out their containers, move up young plants into larger containers and gradually decrease any shade until they are in full sun. Keep the potting medium evenly moist.

When the plants are of sufficient size, they can be planted out into the ground. Tri-bana palms perform well in just about any type of soil as long as the soil environment is managed properly, especially as it pertains to irrigation.

Situate Tri-bana palms in full sun or with some light, afternoon shade in the hottest, driest regions. Dig a whole as deep as the root ball is high and twice as wide. Place an appropriate amount of palm-special fertilizer in the bottom of the hole. Remove the container and place the palm in the hole. Backfill with the same soil that was dug out of the hole without amending it, tamp firmly, apply about five cm of good quality mulch from the palm’s stem out to 60 cm, and irrigate thoroughly. If rain is insufficient, irrigate when the palm needs it by checking the original root ball, backfill, and surrounding site soil. Whichever one of these zones first dries out at a depth of about three to five cm under the soil surface (not counting the mulch), then immediately apply sufficient water to moisten the upper 30  cm of the root zone. Irrigate again only when the root zone dries out again to a depth of three to five cm and continue this irrigation regimen.

Fertilize with a palm-special fertilize following label recommendations. Yellow and dark splotching sometimes occurs on older or lower leaves in the canopy of Tri-bana palms, which could indicate potassium deficiency or potentially the lesion mimic mutant disorder discussed earlier.

Tri-bana palms are sufficiently handsome and imposing to make a statement in any landscape. Their moderately robust trunk, reddish fuzzy crownshaft, and splendid canopy of grayish-looking  leaves are sure to draw attention. Because it typically but sparsely clusters and is an unusually attractive palm, it is sufficiently powerful to stand alone as a single specimen. Companion plants should be kept at least 60 cm away from the trunk and low, so as not to hide or obscure the handsome, colorful trunk.

We feel that Tri-bana palms have their maximum appeal and ornamental value when they have just initiated flowering and have about three to four m of trunk. They will continue to reward for many more years, but then unusually tall specimens tend to lose some of their allure and replacement becomes a consideration.

Literature Cited

Blackwell. 2025. What is hybrid speciation? https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/tutorials/Speciation12.asp  Accessed: 3 October 2025.

Broschat, T. K., D. R. Hodel, and M. L. Elliott. 2014. Ornamental Palms: Biology and Horticulture. Horticultural Reviews 42: 1–121.

Criollo-Escobar, H. and J. J. Dominguez. 2018. Germinability and pollen viability of four improved cultivars of palm oil under laboratory conditions. Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía 71(1): 8395–8405. http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/refame  DOI: 10.15446/rfna.v71n1.69587  

Dhillon, B., L. Altarugio, S. Chakrabarti, and K. Bansal. 2024. Suspected lesion mimic mutants in mule palms (×Butiagrus nabonnandii). Palms 68: 125–132.

Dransfield, J. and H. Beentje. 1995. The Palms of Madagascar. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, U. K. and the International Palm Society, U. S. A.

Dransfield, J, N. W. Uhl, C. B. Asmussen, W. J. Baker, M. H. Madelina, and C. E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum. The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Kw Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom.

Hodel, D. R. 2012. The Biology and Management of Landscape Palms. The Britton Fund, Inc. Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, Porterville, California.

Hodel, D. R. 2023. Chrysalidocarpus blackii (Arecaceae) (:) a new species from cultivation. PalmArbor 2023-05: 1–30. https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2025-03/Chrysalidocarpus%20blackii%20PalmArbor%20FINAL.pdf  DOI: https://doi.org/10.21414/B18G67 

Hodel, D. R. 2025. Chrysalidocarpus hamannii (Arecaceae): a splendid new species from cultivation. PalmArbor 2025-12: 1–40. https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2025-09/Chrysalidocarpus%20hamannii%20PalmArbor%20FINAL%2029%20Sept%202025.pdf  DOI: https://doi.org/10.21414/B1DS3F 

Hodel, D. R., J. B. Dobbs, and R. H. Burtscher. 2025. New artificial hybrids in Chrysalidocarpus (Arecaceae). Part 1. The tri-bear palm: Chrysalidocarpus × leptocaryi. https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2025-10/Chrysalidocarpus%20x%20leptocaryi%20%20tri-bear%20palm%20PalmArbor%20FINAL%2013%20October%202025.pdf  DOI: https://doi.org/10.21414/B1901T   

Velos, L. 2022. Why are hybrid plants sterile? https://www.sciencing.com/plant-hybrids-sterile-5619428/  Accessed: 3 October 2025.

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Donald R. Hodel is the emeritus landscape horticulture advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles and specializes in the taxonomy, selection, and management of palms and trees. drhodel@ucanr.edu

 

Justen B. Dobbs is a Florida nursery owner specializing in producing and growing hybrid palms, especially of the genus Chrysalidocarpus and including the tri-bana palm.

justen.seabreeze@gmail.com

 

Robert “Bob” H. Burtscher is a keen and discerning collector of palms, cycads, and companion plants in Fullerton, California, who has several of Dobbs’s Chrysalidocarpus hybrids in his collection. rhburtscher@gmail.com

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Text © 2026 by Donald R. Hodel, Justen B. Dobbs, and Robert H. Burtscher.

Photographs © 2025 by Donald R. Hodel unless noted otherwise.

Publication Date: 1 June 2026.

 

PalmArbor: https://ucanr.edu/site/hodel-palms-and-trees/palmarbor

ISSN 269083245

Editor-In-Chief: Donald R. Hodel

Hodel Palms and Trees: https://ucanr.edu/site/hodel-palms-and-trees