Foxy Lady Palm- Johannis Wodveitchia; Wodyetia bifurcata x Veitchia johannis FAST hybrid

Description: Foxtail Palm (Wodyetia bifurcata) x Johannis Palm (Veitchia johannis)

This is new hybrid we developed using pollen from a pure V. johannis.  Our V. johannis pollen donor is a palm growing at a botanical garden here in Fort Myers with documented progeny.   The Foxy Lady first showed up in Australia where the Foxtail mother is native, but seemed to show up concurrently in South Florida around the same time- late 1980’s to early 1990’s. The seed parent (mother) is Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtail Palm) which is native to Australia. The pollen parent is Veichia johannis (Sunshine Palm; Montgomery Palm) native to Vanuatu in the South Pacific.  Variegated specimens are slower growing, produce thinner trunks, and don’t like full sun as much.  

Sun Requirements: Full sun, partial sun, or shade

Growth Rate: Very fast.  This hybrid is one of the fastest palm trees in the world, with one Hawaiian collector reporting his tree had put on 6 feet of trunk in 1 year!  Mature height in sub-tropical climates is probably about 50-60 feet.

Fertilizer: Low

Cold Tolerance: USDA Zone 9b-11 (possibly Zone 9a once established and in a protected spot)