Palm Question

[paul h]

Hi all
Can anyone tell me is Chamaerops Excelsa the same thing as Trachcarpus fortunei or if not what is the differance?or is it a pseudonym ,and would chamaerops humilis cerifera andchamaerops humilis volcano also be pseudonyms of something else?
I have all 3 bit am getting totaly confused in trying to work out what is what

[dablo93]

Hi paul, I'n new here but the c. Excelsa is completly the same as a Trachycarpus Fortunei;)

[GARYnNAT]

Hi Paul
Yes Chamaerops Excelsa is the same thing as Trachcarpus fortunei, Chamaerops Excelsa is an old name for trachys that still pops up now and again.
Chamaerops humilis cerifera, is a blue form of Chamaerops while Chamaerops humilis volcano is a more compact plant with smaller but stiffer fronds, hope this helps

Gary

[Dave Brown]

Chamaerops excelsa That was a long time ago. It was a name erroneously given to Trachycarpus fortunei for a while.

Hi dablo, and welcome to the forum. where are you located? Perhaps update your profile with rough location

[simon]

I recently saw some small palms labeled Chamaerops excelsa in my local nursery. All the googling I did came up with the answer that it was an old name for T. fortunei. Funny though, that they were selling them along-side other palms labeled Trachycarpus fontunei.

[Dave Brown]

I recently saw some small palms labeled Chamaerops excelsa in my local nursery.they were selling them along-side other palms labeled Trachycarpus fontunei.

Simon, did they look the same, or had they mislabelled whatever had the excelsa label on

[GARYnNAT]

Dave our local garden centre is the same, for some reason the small trachys are labeled as such but the large ones are all labeled as Chammys, The first time I saw them I originally thought maybe it was because the large ones have been there a long time as they are an horrendous price but the have had more in since all labeled the same, maybe the problem is the dutch suppliers and the labels they supply the same as the Cordyline australis imports labeled as indivisia

Gary

[simon]

They looked like Trachies to me Dave, but now I have thought about it, I'm sure I remember they had very fine spines down the petioles. Not big sharp ones like the normal Chamaerops but more like a hacksaw blade.

[Dave Brown]

Trachies have a junior hacksaw appearance, and action, if you rub your arm down one

Maybe they think the unsuspecting will buy another one labeled Chammy, if they already have a Trachycarpus

[simon]

So they do, Dave. Maybe it was more pronounced as I noticed it on these, when I hadn't really noticed it on my own .

[lucienc]

I spotted the same miss labeling 18 months back in a garden center in Torbay. I asked for the manager, who said "I don't know what it really is", thats how they came labeled from Italy, it seems identical to a T.fortunei. I bought one, and then googled, its a european old naming for T.fortunei. Seems to be very common to be labeled like it.

Mine grew well, and as I already had a few passed it onto my folks for their front garden.

LC

[paul h]

Thanks all for clearing this up I had brought a palm book for xmas that said the same but as the nurery where I brought the palm 6 yrs ago maintain that it is not T Fortunei but a less hardy palm and were suprised I still had it and would I like to buy the much hardier T Fortunei for £30 more :?:2-3 more local nurseries also do C Excelsia as well and as I want another palm I was considering this BUT not any more it will be a Butia of some type THANKS AGAIN

[Adrian]

Keep yours eyes open, Ive found a few gems that had been miss labelled.
Its still quite common to see Chamaerops excelsa on labels, I have also see Trachys with excelsa labels right next to Trachys with fortunei labels on the same bench, and at good nurseries .
They are imported already labelled, Ive seen excelsa labels in a few nurseries in the South of France. Most garden centres will just push them out to sell without checking or without knowing.

As said above, same palm, its Trachycarpus fortunei.

[Dave Brown]

I have seen washingtonia labeled as trachycarpus, but that is a con, as the washingtonia seedlings grow a lot faster.

[Dave]

Mis-labeling of plants is alas quite common. C. excelsa is without doubt T.fortunei. I have a nursery within 2 miles that has them mixed up.
Many Garden Centres sell so few palms that they don't know what they have.
I recently bought a Dypsis decaryi double stemmed plant from a Garden Centre at a remarkably cheap price. They didn't know what it was even when I asked.