Common Name:  Chrysalidocarpus pembana x decaryi

Sun:  Full Sun to Shade

Growth Rate:  Slow to Moderate when young, Fast once trunking

Fertilizer:  None

Water:  Very Low

Cold Tolerance:  unknown, probably 24-28degF

History:  This hybrid was first produced by Seabreeze Nurseries in South Florida in 2013. It has been distributed to California and Australia.

Production:  The seed parent is Chrysalidocarpus pembana (Pemba Palm) and the pollen parent is Chrysalidocarpus decaryi (Triangle Palm). Production numbers are: out of 15,000 female flowers (three inflorescences carry 15,000 pistillate [female] flowers, once pollinated these flowers yield about 50 seeds, out of these seeds about 10-12 germinate and grow to healthy seedlings. Often, 10% of the seedlings come up as true Chrysalidocarpus pembana (see Identification below).

Benefits:  This hybrid should be able to take a few more degrees of cold than the pure Chrysalidocarpus pembana. As a young palm, the hybrid is slightly slower growing than pure Chrysalidocarpus pembana, but speeds up quite a bit when older, the fronds are a bit more silver and upright, and also seem more resistant to spotting and yellowing than the pure mother plant. Also, the hybrid tends to split a couple times, producing two or more trunks, whereas the pure species produces new young stolons (stems) from the base. This hybrid is a pretty palm with a tristichous (vertical rows of three) leaf arrangement, elongated crown shaft, and an emerald-green trunk that is reminiscent of bamboo.

Identification:  Prophyll (first spike/tube) is typically very short- about ¼” or so and colored differently than the eophyll (first leaf). Eophyll is dark, emerald green and very stiff and upright (unlike pure palm which is lime-green and rabbit-eared). Hybrid seedlings are also noticeably slower growing than pure Chrysalidocarpus pembana.