Foxy Lady Palm (Wodyetia bifurcata x Veitchia arecina)

Let me outa here......now!!

took the words out of my mouth DD2

LOL! :>))

I'm not sure why they planted this palm in the Botanical Building. It should have been planted outside the Botanical Building. Many times palms get too large and they have to be cut down. It's really sad! :>((

There was once a gorgeous Flame thrower Palm var 'Water Melon' (Chambeyronia macrocarpa 'Water Melon'). It grows about 4 times faster than the species and it had that gorgeous green trunk spotted like a water melon. It had to be cut down because it grew too tall, very fast. :>((

You'd think they would have a better idea of the height & growth rate of such trees before putting them in such an unsuitable place!

Balcony,

Yes, logically one would think that. lol! They had 3 Caryota gigas (Giant Thai Fishtail Palms) in there at one time. Of course they had to be cut down.

This is what a Caryota gigas looks like outdoors. It's a monster of a palm!

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/125107-caryota-gigas-giant-thai-mountain-fishtail-palm-at-the-san-diego-zoo

I had a look at the link you posted & if that's a "baby" tree, as you put it - then what's a fully grown specimen like? Do you have any pics of a fully grown tree? I never imagined a Palm tree could grow so big!

Balcony,

Palms grow to more than 100' (31m) tall here. The Giant Thai Fishtail palm can grow to 120' (37m) tall, with massive fronds. There's some most likely approaching that height at Huntington Gardens and Library, in San Marino, CA. (L.A. Area). I don't have pics, I haven't been to Huntington Gardens in over 10 years (it's only a 2 hrs drive from me, but the traffic is horrific getting there!)

WOW! That's a big (sorry!) surprise! I had no idea that Palm trees could ever grow so high!!! I thought only woody trees could grow so tall.

Huntington is almost identical in spelling to the town where I live in the UK - Huntingdon!

Yes, palms grow very tall, some species more than 200' (62m) tall. The most commonly grown palm here (Washingtonia robusta - Mexican Fan Palm) grows here like a weed in most of California (low-elevations) to 100' (31m). It's actually a weed tree like the Canary Island Date Palm or California Date palm (Phoenix canariensis), it grows almost as tall, it just takes longer.

Henry Edwards Huntington was from New York. Not sure if his ancestors were from Europe; however, I'm guessing most likely they were, though.