An ignored fact about Trachycarpus princeps.

[garryendson]

Trachycaprus princeps is famous for the uniquely white undersides of leaves. However less attention is paid to the white powder presence on the upper leaf surface and petioles which make them look bluish.
This is because even some real princeps we see on the internet are not really blue,more bit of like a green palm with only white backs. and in some cases, even the undersides ares just blue or gray, not so sharply white.

Actually, T.princeps is a blue palm with white powder to the leaf undersides ,uppersides and petioles. My several princeps grown in the ground and pot out of seeds from the stone gate demonstrate how blue white they could be at both sides.
Though a blue T.princeps with white powder at upperside could be far more interesting and preferable than a green one with only white underside which is not rare to see ,it is still mysterious and difficult to figure out the main reasons behind this I have been boggled at.
Maybe someone could contribute his growing experience to shed light on this.

[spotty]

A very informative postings, but my little Trachys are just about 6 - 8 cm tall so I do not see any colors yet.

[redsquirrel]

hi Garry,good to see you here again
does rainfall have any bearing effect on this? for example,the drier the palm,the bluer it is?

[Dave Brown]

Interesting observation Garry.

I can't answer for experience of this palm, but normally a silver or blue colouring is exhibited by plants originating from areas with very harsh sunlight, and are trying to reflect a much wider colour range of the spectrum, maybe to stop light overload of the chlorophyl. Brahea armata, Chamaerops cerifera etc.

[garryendson]

Darren
I have not yet found the link between humidity and blue coloration.
What is confusing is that even the ones in the bit of shady and wetter location could show more apparent blue tinge than those placed in full sun for comparison,contrary to my former assumption.
But as I noticed, few of mine started as blue since leaf splitting stage and few initially stayed greenish before finally developing into blue silver with time on the 5th or 6th dividing leaf.
In general when older,I observed so far most of the several princeps growing in the ground and pot display bluish silver coloration more or less at both sides as opposed to the green T.nova (formerly known as green princeps but not a real one, though one form of this variety identical in appearance of evenly and narrowly split leaflets to princeps except minus white stuff)
Dave ,what you said makes sense, the question I did not understand is why the lower sides of leaves have heavier white powder than the upper sides which should be loaded with more white stuff due to the direct exposure to the sun.

[Dave Brown]

Garry, I think the white undersides must be for a different reason other than light defence. Is it possible that the white stuff is to deter pests which tend to build up on the undersides of leaves Just thinking aloud here.

[jimhardy]

Maybe it's like the light colored undersides of birds/planes.

To stop attacks from below

[Alexander]

Maybe its an adaptation to drier condition then other Trachycarpi have in their habitad.

Whats the ammount of rain they get in the Stonegate-area?

Alexander

[redsquirrel]

interesting comment Alexander.i was asking Jan m how i should best prevent princeps seedlings rotting off at the base.he showed me how dry he kept his mix and underwatered only

[Dave Brown]

Not grown these, but my method for growing things that don't like too much water is to always water by standing in a shallow dish and let the compost draw up water, but you have to have the right compost to start with. Peat is a real no, no for plants preferring drier conditions.

[Alexander]

I have noticed in the Himalaya that within a sort distince you can go from a green moist area in a valley where you get arid condition with suculent plants like Euphorbias. So maybe this Trachycarpus princeps grows in a kind of rainshadow area. But if you see the pictures of its habitad it looks like it gets plenty rain during the monsoon period. Lots of ferns and Scheflera.

Or its an adaptation to the limestone it grows on.

Sometimes it remains a mystery why a plant has certain features.

Alexander