Chrysalidocarpus pembana x leptocheilos (aka Paradise Palm)

Common Name: Paradise Palm

Sun: Shade to Half-Day sun to look its best

Growth Rate: Fairly slow when young

Fertilizer: Moderate fertilizer needs- granular or liquid

Water: Moderate

Cold Tolerance: unknown

History: This hybrid was first produced by Seabreeze Nurseries in South Florida in 2015 in extremely low numbers.

Production: The seed parent is Chrysalidocarpus pembana (Pemba Palm) and the pollen parent is Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos (Teddy Bear 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.  Despite emasculating the inflorescences (removing the male flowers) and protecting the female flowers from insect pollinators, resulting seedlings seem to still be 50/50 pure and hybrids.

Benefits: Although no mature specimens exist, they should be gorgeous, combining the emerald-green trunk of the Pemba mother with the red, fuzzy crown shaft of the Teddy Bear father with a little bit of white mixed in.  There are a few Chrysalidocarpus cabadae x leptocheilos mature specimens in cultivation and this hybrid should look very similar to those.

Identification: Easy!  Eophyll (first leaf) on hybrid is pinnate (feather-like with several leaflets).  Eophyll on pure Chrysalidocarpus pembana is bi-fid (forked into two sections).

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