Palms For California

Pronunciation: DIP-siss oh-nil-uh-HEN-siss

Common Name: Onilahy Palm

Dypsis onilahensis is one of the very best all around palms for California showing a good deal of heat and cold tolerance as well as being one of the most beautiful palms one can grow. Curiously, there are three very distinct forms, all in both cultivation and at least two in their native Madagascar, without any obvious transitional forms seen. One form has incredibly ornamental, gracefully pendent leaves and it is this form considered the 'true' species. The other form often grown as Dypsis onilahensis is much more robust and has upright, recurved leaves. This form is listed separately in this guide. The true form has a very ornamental blue-green ringed trunk covered with a fairly thick layer of white powder, as well has having a nearly pure white crownshaft coated in the same powder. Note that the recurved form not listed here has infrafoliar inflorescences while in the true form, the flowers are always below the crownshaft. The 'third' form of the 'onilahensis complex' is yet to be described properly, or at least yet to be officially assigned to an already described genus. This form is often referred to as Dypsis 'bef' or Dypsis 'Slick Willy'.

Appearance and Biology Habit: clustering with a crown of 5-8 feather leaves Height: 25' Trunk: multiple (rarely single); 4"-6" thick; prominently ringed; lime green to blue-green stems coated with some white powder (weeping forms seem to have a more dense layer of powder than the recurved-leaf forms). Crownshaft: 18"-24" tall; pale lime green with a dense coating of white powder; only slightly wider (sometimes not) than the trunk below Spread: 10'-15'+ Leaf Description: pinnate; gracefully arching; deep green leaflets; arching and pendulous leaflets in a very even, symmetrical form; 3' long; green Petiole/Leaf bases: medium green; 6" or less; unarmed but sharp-edged; mildly channeled; un-split leaf bases Reproduction: monoecious Inflorescence: below crownshaft; 2' long and highly branched in pendulous-leaf forms; prominent horizontally oriented spathe Fruit: spherical or slightly ovoid; 1" thick; glaucous yellow when ripe

Horticultural Characteristics Minimum Temp: 26F Drought Tolerance: good Dry Heat Tolerance: good Cool Tolerance: good Wind Tolerance: good Salt Tolerance: unknown Growth Rate: slow to moderate with age Soil Preference: adaptable Light Requirement: partial to full sun Human Hazards: none Disease or Horticultural Problems: none Transplants?: unknown Indoor?: unknown Availability: rare

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  pendulous form, Escondido, California in garden of Gary Levine

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  Levine garden, Escondido

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  Levine garden

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  Levine garden

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  Escondido, California, Levine collection

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  garden of Matt Bradford, San Diego county, California

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  Vista, California

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  young pendulous palm in San Diego county

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  Hawaii

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  Hawaii

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  pendulous palm in Pauleen Sullivan's collection, Hawaii

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  pendulous form in Hawaii

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  Nong Nooch tropical gardens, Thailand

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  Nong Nooch tropical gardens

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  Nong Nooch tropical gardens

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  young palm, Leu gardens, Orlando, Florida

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  some sun burn on pendulous palm, Escondido, California

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  pendulous leaf in Hawaii

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  crownshaft of pendulous palm in Hawaii

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  silver trunks of pendulous form, San Diego county, California, Bradford collection

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  Bradford palm, San Diego county

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  pendulous form flowering in California, Bradford garden

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  flowers in Levine garden, Escondido

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  young palm flowering at an early age, San Diego county, Bradford garden

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  seeding pendulous form in Hawaii

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  two varieties of Dypsis onilahensis growing side by side in Hawaii (pendulous 'true' form on right)